BARBARA DELINSKY

In plotting a book, my goal is to raise the stakes for the characters and, in so doing, keep the reader mesmerized.

As I plotted 'Blueprints,' I realized that ageism against women is most obvious in the field of entertainment - and that I needed a TV show in my book.

Rain didn't make things messy. People did that all on their own.

I can't spend the rest of my life competing for your attention and coming in last.

I believe in growth - in myself and in the characters I create.

Parents do bear some of the responsibility if they don't talk to their kids, are never around, even deny their kids the love that young girls often crave when they decide to have a baby.

Too often, I've seen instances where we have an idea of what we want to be, where we want to go, and with whom - before life steps in the way, throws something at us that is beyond our control, and changes everything.

I'm not convinced that abstinence-only education works.

Choices are easy when you have nothing to lose.

Wolves go after a wounded deer, it is the nature of the beast.

Each of my books is different from the last, each with its own characters, its own setting, its own themes. As a writer, I need the variety. I sense my readers do, too.

I believe in growth - in myself and in the characters I create.

In plotting a book, my goal is to raise the stakes for the characters and, in so doing, keep the reader mesmerized.

Too often, I've seen instances where we have an idea of what we want to be, where we want to go, and with whom - before life steps in the way, throws something at us that is beyond our control, and changes everything.

I'm not convinced that abstinence-only education works.

Parents do bear some of the responsibility if they don't talk to their kids, are never around, even deny their kids the love that young girls often crave when they decide to have a baby.

As I plotted 'Blueprints,' I realized that ageism against women is most obvious in the field of entertainment - and that I needed a TV show in my book.

If you want to disappear, Emily, you can do it most anywhere.

What she did have, after raising two children, was the equivalent of a PhD in mothering and my undying respect.

Choices are easy when you have nothing to lose.

Rain didn't make things messy. People did that all on their own.

Wolves go after a wounded deer, it is the nature of the beast.

You kids were all in college, and I suddenly saw that I was stuck alone with a man who, all those years later, was still wanting me to be someone I wasn't.

I can't spend the rest of my life competing for your attention and coming in last.

I had nothing to fear from my father. Except his disappointment. Which was no small thing.