VANESSA DIFFENBAUGH

Our standards for motherhood are so high that many of us harbor intense, secret guilt for every harsh word we speak to our children, every negative thought that enters our minds.

As a college student, I worked as a mentor, and that got me involved in working with young people long before I became a foster parent.

Every second I have spare, I'm with my kids.

Everyone needs something they're good at. You want your kids to be passionate and figure out something they're good at.

First drafts are never any good - at least, mine aren't.

I did a minor in creative writing in college, but I didn't start writing until I stayed at home with my own children.

I don't think there is anything magical about the language of flowers in real life or in my book.

I have spent a lot of time with foster children over the years - kids for whom I have not necessarily acted as a foster parent.

I love Toni Morrison and Jeanette Winterson. 'The Passion' is my favourite book.

I never really considered writing something that was nonfiction.

I traveled a full two years with 'Language of Flowers.'

I've worked with homeless kids, kids in foster care, and I've never met a kid who couldn't be reached.

It is stories - both real and fictional - that can captivate hearts, change minds and, in the most powerful examples, spur action.

My last book, 'The Language of Flowers,' I wrote completely on naptime, when my little kids were asleep.

The most violent and troubling stories become part of our national consciousness about foster care.

The problem is foster youth don't really have this network that other kids have.

There's a certain freedom in writing when you don't know if you'll ever have an audience.

Though politics is by nature divisive, surely we all can agree that foster children need stability, safety, education, opportunity - and love.

At Camellia Network, we believe if we can create a way of identifying every young person aging out of foster care, defining what they need, and giving a community of supporters a simple and clear way to fulfill those needs, we can produce radically improved outcomes for youth.

I am not only the person who wrote and sold a novel while raising a houseful of biological and foster children; I am also the person who wrote a horrific young adult novel that never sold and gave up on a foster child I couldn't handle - an experience that still haunts me.

I founded Camellia Network with my dear friend Isis Dallis Keigwin. The mission of our organization is to create a national network that connects every youth aging out of foster care to the critical resources, opportunities, and support they need to thrive in adulthood.

I think that the hardest thing about working with young people in foster care who've been through this kind of neglect and abuse is really to convince them that they are worthy of being loved. And I think because often they don't feel worthy of it, that's why they push people away.

I wanted to write with emotional honesty and tell a story people could connect with. And I wanted people to know how the foster system in America fails children; and how, at 18, they fall through the cracks. Then we can all work together and give support.

I was a screenwriting and studio art major in college, so even though I don't have any training as a floral designer, I have a very particular visual aesthetic.

I'm missing work. We didn't have enough money for preschool. I had a panic attack. I couldn't do it. I became one of those horrible foster parents who give the kids back.