I am a former newspaper reporter turned church secretary turned vampire novelist. I wrote my

first complete novel, 'Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs,' at night while I was working as the receptionist for a Baptist church. That was an interesting conversation with the pastor.
Molly Harper

Sweden is famous for many things - but not fashion.
Stefan Persson

If I can't be daring in my work or the way I live my life, then I don't really see the point of being on this planet.
Madonna Ciccone

Over the years, I've had to learn to play. For example, when 'Lennon' was on Broadway, I learned my way around the guitar chords because originally we were all going to play the instruments without a band.
Will Chase

I like to dabble in different things, but music is my first love. It connects to me in a way my side projects don't because it's so personal. I write the words. Music is like my diary. It's my therapy.
Eve

Customers are using BetterWorks in a number of creative ways to reward and incentivize employees.
Paige Craig

You know you're going to have a good day when your morning begins with breakfast in the same room as Carrie Tiffany, David Vann and Lionel Shriver.
Hannah Kent

You go through phases. You have to reinvent reasons for playing, and one year's answer might not do for another.
Yo-Yo Ma

Natural selection shaped the human brain to be drawn toward aspects of nature that enhance our survival and reproduction, like verdant landscapes and docile creatures. There is no payoff to getting the warm fuzzies in the presence of rats, snakes, mosquitoes, cockroaches, herpes simplex and the rabies virus.
Paul Bloom

Overall, one of the things that excites me most about self-publishing is that the highest-value use of my time in promoting the books will be found in writing more of them.
Barry Eisler

Liberals have invented whole college majors - psychology, sociology and women's studies - to prove that nothing is anybody's fault.
P. J. O'Rourke

Gemeoss

This battle for 'common-sense' gun control laws pits emotion and passion against logic and reason.

All too often in such a contest, logic loses. So, expect more meaningless, if not harmful, 'gun control' legislation. Good news - if you're a crook. Larry Elder I drive a lot. Just for pleasure. Sometimes I'll get in the Cadillac and drive around the city or the country, kind of trying to get lost basically. Y'know, just see where roads lead. Frank Black You and I will meet again, When we're least expecting it, One day in some far off place, I will recognize your face, I won't say goodbye my friend, For you and I will meet again. Tom Petty We must dare to think 'unthinkable' thoughts. We must learn to explore all the options and possibilities that confront us in a complex and rapidly changing world. J. William Fulbright Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. Mary Shelley Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such fr...

I think in the old days, the nexus of weirdness ran through Southern California, and

to a degree New York City. I think it's changed so that every bizarre story in the country now has a Florida connection. I don't know why, except it must be some inversion of magnetic poles or something. Carl Hiaasen My job on 'Dark Shadows' was to make it fun and funny, first and foremost. It can still be dark and it can still even be gory and gothic at times, but it also needed to be fun and it needed to be an experience that people would enjoy having. Seth Grahame-Smith I've always wanted to tackle the casual part of dressing. Knits to me are always just easy. I've fantasized about packing a suitcase of only knits: You just throw them in, roll them in a ball, pull them out and they still look fabulous. Nanette Lepore Tailoring was considered to be a world that was very traditional, and basically going out of fashion. Fashion designers did not have a real link with tailoring or tradition, so I fused the two worlds together. Ozwald Boateng Sanctific...

It's nice coming to Nashville, and we have four-bedroom house and a dog, and we

go swimming a lot. We get down here and spread out a lot, and I miss my sweet tea and my cornbread and my good southern cooking - but I'm down here eating pretty for two weeks and I'm ready to go back to New York City. Justin Townes Earle I hope everybody will go back to the negotiating table. I've always said this is the only way forward. Mohamed ElBaradei I'm the type of artist who touches people, that's the type of artist that I am. Jacob Lusk Writing is a fine therapy for people who are perpetually scared of nameless threats... for jittery people. William Styron Comedy wasn't something I chose - it chose me. Pauly Shore When I heard Aretha, I could feel her emotional delivery so clearly. It came from down deep within. That's what I wanted to do. Whitney Houston When I see old photos of me on the beach I don't look too bad... but it's hard trying to breathe in for such a long time when I spot the photographers! Gary Lineker St...

Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously, precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to

every country in the world. Margaret Chan Say and do something positive that will help the situation; it doesn't take any brains to complain. Robert A. Cook Shakespeare has been praised in English more than anything mortal except poetry itself. Fame exhausts thought in his eulogy. George Edward Woodberry The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. Ken Blanchard The whole concept of negotiating is intimidating to many people. Leigh Steinberg Every day I work my guts out in training, every match I play my heart out. Ruud van Nistelrooy The healthiest companies are always characterized by organic talent development. Margaret Heffernan I don't really like to explain my songs. Yanni I am a bit of a lefty on some issues. Vince Cable We must never confuse elegance with snobbery. Yves Saint Laurent

It is not the truth that a man possesses, or believes that he possesses, but

the earnest effort which he puts forward to reach the truth, which constitutes the worth of a man. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing My favorite animal to hunt is probably elk. There's nothing like the sound of a bugling bull splitting the cold air at first light. And that smell is unmistakable. Once you experience their musk in the wild there's no going back! A close second would be a varmint hunt. Chris Pratt Years of research in psychology has shown that rewards and punishments can be very effective in changing behavior. But, at the same time, they can create an addiction to rewards and punishments. Barry Schwartz When I was a kid, I thought I was going to be an actor. Tom Ford I'm a better and more educated person because of basketball. Lisa Leslie I never thought I would just be doing Arkady books. Martin Cruz Smith We need to say goodbye to the traditional methodologies of corporate universities. Marcus Buckingham Here Fashion is a despot, and no one dream...

Writing books and being paid for it - it's not like winning the Lottery. You

can't suddenly go, 'Yippee!' and start throwing tenners in the air. I've done pretty well out of it, but certainly not enough to say, 'Right, that's me set up for life.' Joanne Harris When I teach writing, I always tell my students you should assume that the audience you're writing for is smarter than you. You can't write if you don't think they're on your side, because then you start to yell at them or preach down to them. Tony Kushner When infuriated by an outrageous column, do not be suckered into responding with an abusive e-mail. Pundits so targeted thumb through these red-faced electronic missives with delight, saying 'Hah! Got to 'em.' William Safire I've always wanted to write a book relating my experiences growing up as a deaf child in Chicago. Contrary to what people might think, it wasn't all about hearing aids and speech classes or frustrations. Marlee Matlin The three actors I admire the most are a...

I wanted to be a designer since I was a kid, and I was always

attracted to the way rock stars dressed and the way their girlfriends dressed. I always thought that they were the most interesting people. Anna Sui I don't know why, but the older I get the more interested I get in my parents' marriage. And it's interesting to be married yourself, too, because there is an inevitable comparison. Jhumpa Lahiri I don't think there's any such thing as teaching people photography, other than influencing them a little. People have to be their own learners. They have to have a certain talent. Imogen Cunningham I sometimes wish that people would put a little more emphasis upon the observance of the law than they do upon its enforcement. Calvin Coolidge While there are many influences on gas prices in America, I believe the passage of a national energy bill will help relieve this burden on our country. Paul Gillmor I understand that the end does not justify the means. And this should be a lasting value for democracy. Park Ge...

It was only through getting interested in more out-there and avant-garde forms

that the musical suddenly seemed like such a wonderful genre to me. Damien Chazelle Early 2000s, we get Enron, which tells us the books are dirty. And what is our repeated response? We just keep pulling the threads out of the regulatory fabric. Elizabeth Warren I wrote my first book without being to Ethiopia since I was two years old. Dinaw Mengestu I love 'The Vampire Diaries!' I can't help it - it's such a teeny-bopper show, but I think I just like it to stare at the guys. Ashley Wagner Music is where my love is. I don't think the acting thing is going to start outweighing that, but I think it's going to start being a good chunk of something I want to do. Mary J. Blige I love baseball - 'Moneyball' was my favorite book when I was 13. Dylan O'Brien That's the one part where being brothers makes a difference. It's just instinct. That's the charm of what the Everly Brothers are: two guys singing as one. Don Everly The...

Very much like that, and very much a loner, do you know and I didn't

fit really into sport or all kind of group activities as a kid, I couldn't find a niche. And music was not really part of the kind of village curriculum it would, you know. Eric Clapton According to some Eastern religion, there is a belt that goes across the world, and I've heard that Minnesota is right in the heart of this spiritual-creative belt of energy. Melody Beattie Amongst Women concentrated on the family, and the new book concentrates on a small community. The dominant units in Irish society are the family and the locality. The idea was that the whole world would grow out from that small space. John McGahern Jazz stands for freedom. It's supposed to be the voice of freedom: Get out there and improvise, and take chances, and don't be a perfectionist - leave that to the classical musicians. Dave Brubeck I decided to do the maximum to hold onto the lead for as long as possible. That is why I pushed so hard from the beginning. I was at 100 percent conce...

Race and sexual preferences are two different things. One is a behavior-related and preference-related and

one is something inherently - skin color, something obvious, that kind of stuff. James Lankford I don't try to focus on anything that doesn't affect me personally and how I go out there every single day. I'm just going to continue to work hard and focus on what I can control. Tim Tebow I feel that sin and evil are the negative part of you, and I think it's like a battery: you've got to have the negative and the positive in order to be a complete person. Dolly Parton The government should now launch an initiative to encourage people to join the social work profession. Andy Sawford Artists know that diligence counts as much, if not more, as inspiration; in art, as in politics, patience counts as much as revolution. Tony Kushner As society evolves, people are interested in a new take on an old beloved story. Len Wiseman I think you've got to keep it simple, keep it fresh. Stay away from all that processed stuff, read the labels. Emeril Lagasse ...