My mom used to tell me stories at night, read books to me - and I read 'em over and over and over again. And you know what I learned from that? I went back and looked at everything - Why do I like reading the same stories over and over and over again? What, was I some kind of nincompoop? No - the narrative gave me connection with my mom.

Not that we didn't have close relationships with our parents - I'm very close to my mom - but parents didn't think anything of going off for a few weeks and leaving their kids.

Mom and Dad would stay in bed on Sunday morning, but the kids would have to go to church.

Deep down, my mom had long suspected I was gay... Much of her anger and hurt came from her sense of betrayal that she was the last to be told.

What mom cares about most is that I'm happy, healthy and enjoying my life.

My daily schedule is quite hectic, but I have to put my health first in order to be the best mom and wife I can be.

I told my mom I would graduate. I owe that much to her and myself.

My mom can't defend herself to the world. She is such an amazing woman, with such an open heart. It's a real hard line, and I crossed it. I took everyone's life story and assumed it would be a great thing to put on screen. I was being selfish and I feel so horrible about it. I feel so guilty.

I've always been a writer because I've always been a student. My mom's a retired professor, so I come from a very academic background. I love writing, you know?

My mom always encouraged me, it was never weird. She'd look at 'Heavy Metal' and go 'Woo-hoo!'