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Coming out of college into the draft, being Asian-American and being from Harvard, that's not going to be an advantage because of stereotypes.

So many people are of mixed heritage; everyone is from somewhere else.

I don't want to not be African. The goal is to live in a world where my race doesn't limit my access, where I can see myself represented in the highest level of society without any limitation.

They were concerned about the racial issue. They thought it was not a safe issue to go Asian, unfortunately.

Being Asian in this business is something you have to consider, because sometimes people aren't as open. They'll say, I can't see you with a Caucasian person.

I have friends who are black whose families opened their arms to them when they came out; I have friends who were white where they were rejected.

I grew up in an area of Ireland where there weren't many black or mixed-race children. But I never had any hassle; maybe I've blocked it out, but I don't think so.

Unexpectedly, I'm here now, so I need to let all the U.S. marketers know that Asians are not different. We are all the same.

I have hidden my race for 22 books. I have hidden behind my married name, which is very Caucasian, because I didn't feel safe coming out with it. I didn't feel that the market would really accept me. I think I felt it's time to start bringing in an Asian-American point of view.

I think it was hard for people to cast me as an ethnic, as an Asian American woman.