I'm a daydreamer.

Capo, my first golden retriever, so loved to swim she once jumped off a cliff to get into Lake Superior.

I have a friend who lives in the South Side of Chicago. I helped out at a church charity there where they try to give a bit of cohesion to a desperate area. Everyone was very welcoming.

I live and die with the Chicago Cubs.

No agent wants to see a book until he or she has decided whether to pursue the relationship.

I love to sing. I'm a soprano.

The best source for finding an agent is called Literary Agents of North America. It's a complete list of agents, not only by name and address, but by type of book they represent and by what their submission criteria are.

I thought it was time for a tough, smart, likable female private investigator, and that's how VI came to life.

Reviewers said Ghost Country was rich, astonishing and affecting in the way it blended comedy, magic, and a gritty urban realism in a breathtaking ride along Chicago's mean streets.

I realised I'd never climb Everest but thought I could still write a book.

Around the time I turned 30, I wanted to publish a novel.

Write what you care about.

I'm a daydreamer.

The crime novel has always been my favourite genre.

My parents were liberal intellectuals but even they expected me to stay at home and look after my younger siblings and do the housework.

I grew up in conservative rural Kansas in the 1950s when it was expected that girls would not have a life outside the home, so educating them was a waste of time.

I spent 10 years as a marketing manager. I've found my experience in the financial world invaluable background for writing about white-collar crimes.

It took me nine months to write 60 pages. It was very frustrating.

I went to college at the University of Kansas, where I got a degree in political science.

Sometimes I think I'm a one-trick pony because I'm not very inventive about new ways of telling stories.

I'm a grandmother, and a mighty proud one.

Sisters in Crime now has more than 4,000 members worldwide.

I always wrote; my first story was published in the magazine The American Girl when I was 11.

Most people don't have the money to spend on advertising to create awareness among readers, nor do they have the contacts at newspapers or magazines to get their books reviewed.

I'm very honoured that there is a loyal following and I hope it continues.

Sometimes I panic and think I can't really write.

White-collar crime gets more outrageous by the second in America.

I'm lucky in having found the perfect partner to spend my life with.

I had wanted to write Ghost Country for a long time, but it wouldn't work.

The possibility of bringing white-collar criminals to justice is ever receding over the horizon.

People have less privacy and are crammed together in cities, but in the wide open spaces they secretly keep tabs on each other a lot more.

I wish I could remember where I put things. I spend half my life looking for my keys. With the other half I look for my glasses.

You get weird and unsettling behaviour in the country.

In 1986 we were trying to help women get in print, stay in print, and come to the attention of booksellers and libraries. At that time, books by men mystery writers were reviewed seven times as often as books by women.

Live disasters are wonderful attractions when youre safe on the other side of them.

When you feel lousy, puppy therapy is indicated.

China pays a great deal of attention to the Korean nuclear issue. We stand for achieving denuclearization of the peninsula in a peaceful way through dialogue and consultation to maintain peace and stability of the peninsula and Northeast Asia.

Yoga's hard for me, but I know you can really feel the difference when you do it consistently. I'd rather be playing basketball.

As plans for the first lunar landing started to be made, nobody had really thought about who would be out first.

There are so many different kinds of motivation for investing or giving or parting with your money in whatever other way, and plain old financial return is obviously attractive. But people are not always rational and are not just looking for that.

Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel, not just to be as good as someone else but to be better than someone else. This is the nature of man and the name of the game.

A lovely horse is always an experience. It is an emotional experience of the kind that is spoiled by words.

I call on the international community to be fair to the Iraqi people. My position is that we respect international resolutions but in return demand justice and accountability for those who stole Iraq's money.

Everything is designed. Few things are designed well.

We excuse our sloth under the pretext of difficulty.

Banks need to have large shareholders on the board that have a direct interest in their performance.

If I want to draw more in a particular scene that I think is important, because of time I cannot. That's hard for me. But I've always wanted to be a manga-ka, so I'm doing what I love.

I've been able to work with some incredible voice talent, most of whom I grew up hearing in my favorite cartoons.

As a crew, G.O.O.D. Music is taking it to levels that really haven't been done collectively. Kanye is someone who knows how to make classic albums, a true thinker. He got me in the mindset of being a true thinker and always planning out every move you got going.