I think friendship is more important than love, but that love that grows out of friendship is the very best of all.

When I first started writing, I was living in England and I had that uniquely English sense of sarcasm, which has definitely seemed to have left me. I am a naturalized American and my sensibility has become far more American.

As a teenager, you are still entirely wrapped up in yourself.

I have spent many a night in an Internet chat room, but not since I've been married.

I like to think the endings of all my books are open to interpretation.

I love getting out the house because writing is such a solitary business that even being at the library makes me feel part of the world.

Writing is a muscle that needs to be exercised every day: The more you write, the easier it becomes.

Having struggled with food issues and eating disorders myself, particularly when I was younger, I've long been interested in using it within my books.

I adore children, but I was never that interested in new born babies. It's a terrible thing to have to admit, and you're not supposed to think that way as a woman, but everyone promises it's different when you have your own. It wasn't for me, though.

I am divorced, and one of the things I am tremendously grateful for is that my ex-husband and I made a decision to go through mediation. I knew a trial would drag on for years, would cost me everything, but worse, would be devastating for our four small children.

I don't listen to anything when I'm writing. I need total quiet, which is astounding, given that I spent years working for a newspaper and having to write features surrounded by ringing phones and people shouting.

I have a deep and passionate love of America. It is where I have always thought I would be happiest, and although I miss England desperately, I find that my heart definitely has its home over here.

I'd like to think I'm not quite so pretentious as to think my characters go off and live their lives once I've written the final page and switched the computer off.

The life of a bestselling novelist sounds like it ought to be spectacularly glamorous and fun, but in fact I spend most of my time incognito, and in fact were you to pass me in the street you would think I was just another dowdy suburban mom.

From the day Facebook launched in 2004, the profile was the most critical page on the site.

I was one of the first people to join Facebook in February of 2004, and launched one of the inaugural applications on the platform in May 2007.

People can care about changing the world. But what gets them to act is pressure and social reward.

The Internet has brought democracy to so many other things. It's about time the Internet brought democracy to democracy.

Whatever you think of Facebook, you cannot fault it for lack of ambition.

Without social networks, you're not the coolest thing on the Christmas list, and you're not getting any bite.