While many of us never knew Ronald Reagan personally we felt close to him because we shared his lighthearted sense of humor admired his uncommon virtue and were moved by his remarkable wisdom.

I was a product of a divorced family and I used humor as a weapon to combat sadness. I used comedy to make my mother laugh in light of the darkness that she faced and to me it became a very powerful tool at a very young age at six. I saw how therapeutic it could be.

My humor tends to be a little more edgy than is appropriate for 'Twilight ' although I got some in there. That was fun! There's just a tonal difference. For me storytelling is storytelling. But I do like writing for grown ups.

If one tends to be a humorous person and you have a sense of humor the rest of your life then you can certainly lighten the load I think by bringing that to your trials and tribulations. It's easy to have a sense of humor when everything is going well.

It's your outlook on life that counts. If you take yourself lightly and don't take yourself too seriously pretty soon you can find the humor in our everyday lives. And sometimes it can be a lifesaver.

When they see those fourteen lights they're looking at a miracle. And deep down they feel that whatever's going to happen there will be someone there to help them. And that fills them with hope.

Wherever my story takes me however dark and difficult the theme there is always some hope and redemption not because readers like happy endings but because I am an optimist at heart. I know the sun will rise in the morning that there is a light at the end of every tunnel.

Flying back from New York the flight attendant said 'God I wished you were here yesterday we had a stroke on the plane. I said if I have a stroke on a plane I hope the pretend doctor isn't the one on the plane. I want a real doctor.

One of the principal goals in my life has been to avoid embarrassing my children by doing the job I do. I hope I've managed to do that and I hope that with the job I'm in now they are if not proud at least unembarrassed by it. I must say my three are most agreeable children who do nothing but delight me.

Most people like to read about intrigue and spies. I hope to provide a metaphor for the average reader's daily life. Most of us live in a slightly conspiratorial relationship with our employer and perhaps with our marriage.