We have a million ways to get ahold of people, and we're the loneliest we've ever been.

There are two phone calls parents don't ever want to get from their children. No. 1 is, 'I'm in prison. Come fetch me.' And No. 2 is, 'I've written a novel... and it's set in your hometown.'

If there is one thing I hope my books do always and forever, it's that they honor working people.

I come from hardworking, determined people on both sides of my family... the kind who live with a hard reality from which much strength comes.

On the cover of 'All the Stars' is a red grosgrain ribbon. It's Loos's ribbon. Ageless, fabulous Loos - she tricked the very people who would have cast her aside like an old shoe if they knew the truth.

I understand how a first impression is often just that: a quick snapshot that, on its own merit, is meaningless.