I think, above all, the characters in my novels feel universal to the readers.

I very seldom, very seldom, even know what my characters look like.

I'll admit that it's not easy to get an agent, but becoming successful in anything requires perseverance.

If you look for me, I'm in the fiction section. Romance has its own section.

None of my characters are rich or famous, and the situations they find themselves in could happen to anyone.

Over time, quality work will lead to an audience for your work.

There's always pressure, a great deal of pressure, when writing, since my first books were so successful.

What's the challenge in writing a novel that few people will read? I'm more than happy writing what I do and have no plans to change that.

Writing the last page of the first draft is the most enjoyable moment in writing. It's one of the most enjoyable moments in life, period.

A typical agent in New York gets 400 query letters a month. Of those, they might ask to read 3-4 manuscripts, and of those, they might ask to represent 1.

Above all, a query letter is a sales pitch and it is the single most important page an unpublished writer will ever write. It's the first impression and will either open the door or close it. It's that important, so don't mess it up. Mine took 17 drafts and two weeks to write.

I suppose more than anything, it's the way of life in this part of the country that influences my writing. In Eastern North Carolina, with the exception of Wilmington, most people live in small towns.

To be quite honest, I've been very blessed when I've worked with Hollywood. The studios that have purchased my work to be adapted to film have really liked the work and wanted to stay as close as they could to what the book was.

I don't know that love changes. People change. Circumstances change.

Romance is thinking about your significant other, when you are supposed to be thinking about something else.

Loving once and only once is possible - anything is possible.

I think that men know how to romance a woman and most do it well, at least for a time, otherwise women wouldn't marry them. The problem is that most of them begin to rest on their laurels.

The first thing I did when I sold my book was buy a new wedding ring for my wife and asked her to marry me all over again.

My wife, my family, my friends - they've all taught me things about love and what that emotion really means. In a nutshell, loving someone is about giving, not receiving.

I'm writing a new love story, set in eastern North Carolina. Surprise, surprise, huh?