I took it upon myself to paint a better picture of rural life and what it is all about.

I am proud of whatever my parents have achieved. In fact, it drives me to excel in life, to perform even better and explore myself.

I have never considered myself anything other than an environmentalist. I have spent the better part of my life either in the wilderness, or trying desperately to get there.

My parents made every effort to encourage me to pursue anything in life that I enjoyed or found appealing so that I would be able to better understand myself and my passions as I grew up.

Mandy Rose is basically an exaggerated version of myself. It's all about confidence. She's a bit of a mean girl and 'I'm prettier than you and better than you.' I'm not quite like that in real life.

My diabetes is such a central part of my life... it did teach me discipline... it also taught me about moderation... I've trained myself to be super-vigilant... because I feel better when I am in control.

I'm totally fine knowing that I gave part of myself to a bigger purpose and a bigger cause, to not only serve my country but try to make a better way of life for other people and much less fortunate people.

Everything sounds better when Billie sings it, so the only ones I'll keep for myself are ones that really feel just super personal to me in their content, like this is my life story and maybe not anybody else's.

I came to the Philippines to follow my father who came here earlier, looking for a better life. I helped my father in our sari-sari store. I also asked him if I could go back to school so I could learn English and improve myself.

For 50 years of my life I never weighed myself at all, I would go by how my clothes fit, but I was back in England to take care of my mother while she was getting better. The pounds crept on and I got a little bit nervous about it.

I would have had an easier life if I were straight, but I would not be me. And I now like being myself better than the idea of being someone else, someone who, to be honest, I have neither the option of being nor the ability fully to imagine.

I had big problems with stage fright in the past. I think, slowly, as I've gotten better at it, I've started to enjoy it. It's made me a more confident person in my normal life. I can open up and be myself in situations that used to be abject terror.

My identity was a big issue when I was a teenager, and I had a lot of questions, like: 'Who am I?' 'Who do I belong to?' But when I was still quite young, I decided that belonging is a tough process in life, and I'd better say I belonged to myself and the world rather than belonging to one nationality or another.

One of the things I did to make myself feel better is that I kicked up my running even more. I knew that I had to stay active, that I had to keep living as if my life was actually going to unfold naturally because when you stop, when you freeze, and you think about it, that's when the demons come and can drag you down.

There are many days when I want to throw my computer out the window, when I tell myself I'd be better off selling shoes at the mall. But I always keep at it, because I have to. Writing is completely part of who I am. Even if I never published another book, I would keep at it - because it feeds my life and makes it richer.

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