I'm named after a horse. My mom's best friend had a horse named Brooke so my dad suggested 'Brooklyn' as a more formal version and it just stuck - and now I live in Brooklyn part-time so go figure.

I had so many offers after 'True Blood' for things that were someone in the same vein but nowhere near Alan Ball's vision. Or something that was over-the-top and fantastical. And I've always wanted to play the regular working-class mom and I've never really had the chance to do that.

I like my name. My mom named me after a song by the 1970s group Bread. So it's meaningful and I like the song. It's a love song - kind of - but it's kind of depressing and dark.

My daughter's name is Neesyn Dacey but everyone calls her Dacey. Her mom chose Neesyn and I chose Dacey after she was born. The mother is a good friend of mine who I was seeing a while ago. We are no longer together.

For many women going back to work a few months after having a baby is overwhelming and unmanageable. As strange as it may seem things get even more difficult for a working mom after the second and third baby arrive. By that time the romance of being a modern 'superwoman' wears off and reality sets in.

It's been very hard after being mostly a mom to develop an adult life of my own. And not being married anymore I have to come up with challenges.

Postpartum depression is a very real and very serious problem for many mothers. It can happen to a first time mom or a veteran mother. It can occur a few days... or a few months after childbirth.

I spend my afternoons painting and working on my Open Hearts jewelry line for Kay Jewelers. I designed an image of a heart that isn't completely closed. My mom always told me to live with an open heart - when life gets tough you should go out and help someone else.

Imagine my surprise when after a lifetime of teaching me to keep personal things to myself Mom insisted my drawings were the start of a comic strip for millions of people to enjoy.

I remember my mom didn't have any help so if she needed to be somewhere after school we'd just go down to the neighbors' and she'd give us a snack and make sure we did our homework. There weren't any latchkey kids.