I yearn to be present in my life and not to miss it. I think when I write, it helps me to get there.”

Sometimes the only way to endure life’s difficult situations is to remember – reaching out in kindness helps to heal many wounds.

The way I think about writing – I’m always wanting to be led deeper into something. I’m not looking to tell or explain. I’m looking to explore what’s opening to me, because I’m letting go all the time.

The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose.

“The Henna Artist” is set in 1950’s Jaipur, India, shortly after the nation achieved independence, but most women had very little freedom. It is the story of a young woman who defies tradition, leaving an abusive arranged marriage to strike out on her own. In this interview, we discuss the influences of Alka’s immigrant childhood, her mother’s traditional life, and the support she received from both parents to break with that tradition.

At this age, I can write about grief and loneliness, sadness and death and birth, when I couldn’t have written about it in my 20’s – I didn’t have the experience.

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.

I have never met anybody who was glad that they stopped taking music lessons, but I’ve met a lot of people who were sorry that they didn’t keep up with it.

Music to me is the voice of the soul; from the magnificent creations of the past, by Bach, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, to the present. So let’s all enjoy the music of this world

“I have always been fascinated by Shakespeare. I have always been fascinated by the idea of what happened to Ariel, this all powerful spirit that has been released into the world ( Shakespeare’s play The Tempest)” Pat McKee talks about his new novel – Ariel’s Island .”If we could recognize it and agree upon it,

I tried to catch and hold his gaze while I told him I loved him. I realize now that there are sorrows that cannot be conveyed.; wounds with which you learn to live, but never completely heal.

This book is the story of two courageous women who proved that yes; one person truly can change the world.

We all have at least two families; the one we came from and the one we create, both with joys and sorrows.

When we were young our parents somehow made it clear that being famous was good; and I mistakenly thought that if I was famous everyone would love me.