The impetus behind going to graduate school was a year after graduating from college spent in Dallas working at the dog food factory and Bank America and not having met success in my chosen field which at that point was being an actress.

I've been very lucky in the characters I've chosen. Up until last year I was a nobody. I did jobs I booked because I needed to put food in my mouth.

The vehemence with which certain critics have chosen not simply to criticize what I've written but to challenge my writing this story at all speaks of what the book is about: fear of disapproval.

In a World where people are surrounded by darkness ignorance and fear it is a sign of hope to be celebrating Islam's message of peace and light and the last great Messenger born and chosen to deliver them to all mankind.

You know I think Jesus was famous and also in a lot of trouble because he always chose people over sort of established procedures.

I could have been a dental hygienist with nothing bad ever appearing in print about me but that's not how I've chosen to lead my life. I knew that you put yourself under a microscope the more famous you become.

My dream maybe because of my family of course was to be a painter. I chose in one moment the direction of textiles from textiles I went to fashion.

During the periods in my marriage when I chose to stay home with my kids rather than work as an attorney it caused me no end of anxiety. Despite the fact that I knew I was contributing to our family by caring for our children I still felt that my worth was less because I wasn't earning.

My parents were drawn to the idea that there was space and opportunity in Australia. For the meagre sum of £10 you could sail your entire family out to Australia so that's what my father chose to do.

Men have looked upon the desert as barren land the free holding of whoever chose but in fact each hill and valley in it had a man who was its acknowledged owner and would quickly assert the right of his family or clan to it against aggression.