Writing is deeply personal for me. I would imagine many art forms hold this characteristic - painting, sculpture, photography, theatrical roles. The art form, although if we're fortunate enough to have some acclaim will ultimately become public, emanates from our hearts and reflects ourselves.

And, hopefully, our art will touch others where our own self-expression assumes a universality. For me, writing is an opportunity and a vehicle with which I can bare my soul without inhibition, share secrets, fears, dreams and find resolution.

People always ask where I get my "ideas" for a novel. The question used to throw me a bit perhaps because I had no concrete answer. The stories are a part of me.

They come from every angle as I look through my mind's eye: reflecting on my past, scrutinizing my present, looking to the future. The next question is usually, "was this a true story?" In many ways, yes. Not that the actual events occurred, but it would be a lie to say that fiction doesn't hold a great deal of truth.

Again, there is that element where stories about real, everyday people, relate a universal truth. I am a firm believer that none of us are unique. We are defined by our pasts as well as our present lives. We are driven by our futures. There is a sameness to the human spirit, a commonality that brings us together. My novels are pieces of my life told allegorically and with greater courage, sense of conviction and an element of fantasy but always regaling the truth.

In other words, writing fiction is the glorious marriage of realism and fantasy, allowing the writer to spin what did happen into what could have happened, or what we wish could have happened or what we are capable of making happen. A good story is an intricate embroidery where details of living are woven together and the finished product is one of resolution at best and, at the very least, an understanding and acceptance of oneself. Telling a story places layer upon layer and, ironically, as I weave the tale, there is also an unraveling as I come to see the perplexities and complexities of my own life. The best part is placing the embroidery into the hands of my characters who ultimately do a better job than I could have done myself in telling the story.

I never understood what writers meant when they said that their characters were truly the writers of their stories. It wasn't something I espoused until I wrote Jimmy's Girl, my first novel, and suddenly about one-third of the way into the book I saw that Jim and Emily, although created by me, became narrators apart from myself. And as I continue to write, the characters become people I know more and more. By the time I type the last line, I have a feeling of sadness because, as silly as it may sound, I will miss these people. They've become old friends.