Writing for TV entails saying every dumb idea that comes into your head to a room of people. And doing so with the confidence that it doesn't make you look like an idiot.
When I wrote my first book, I was too scared to find out how people got books published. I was convinced that you needed some sort of magical potion that I didn't have.
I am methodical about my email inbox, and I always have a physical to-do list. Without those two things, I think I'd lose my mind.
Think both big and small. Loving to bake doesn't only mean becoming a baker. It could mean starting a blog, becoming a food photographer, or going into organic chemistry.
When my husband and I first got married, I was so shocked at my own level of joy that I was convinced it was all going to come crashing down.
You don't realize how strong you are until you have to help someone else stand up.
I love reading books that can break my heart.
Starting with 'Forever, Interrupted,' I somehow convinced myself that in order to create content, I had to consume content. What this means is that I have legitimized binge-watching television and told myself that I must do it for work.
You can't write about an iconic Hollywood star of the sixties without bumping up against Elizabeth Taylor.
I love being a writer so much that I almost can't believe that I am one.
I went to Acton-Boxborough Regional High School in Massachusetts and Emerson College in Boston.
I'd sing all day, every day, all the time if I thought it didn't sound like dying cats.
Sometimes you are strong, sometimes you are weak.
I came across 'The Song of Achilles' by Madeline Miller in one of the most romantic ways one can find a story. I was digging through a pile of used books at my local library when my hand gravitated toward its brilliant teal and glistening gold cover.
I've always thought that a good book should be either the entry point inward, to learn about yourself, or a door outward, to open you up to new worlds.
As an author, I had spent years writing my stories on my own in a quiet room. My ideas traveled from my brain to my fingers, executed exactly as I saw fit, never veering from my own intent. TV simply doesn't work that way.
We often compare the experience of writing a book to that of playing God. It is up to us, and only us, to determine what happens to the people we invent. It is for us alone to determine what is good and bad, just and unjust, appropriate and inappropriate for the worlds we create. I love that about writing books.
I sense that by writing both books and television, I've become better at each.
Some days, I'll tell you that everything in life was meant to be and that there is an order to the universe. Other days, I'm convinced it's all a combination of luck and opportunity.
You have to know your value, demand to be respected, speak your mind, and dare to ask for what you want. I struggle with every single one of these.
