" My main characters are more extensions of my social circle than figments of my imagination. Each is fleshed out with characteristics of myself or my loved ones, endowed with unwritten parts stitched together from my own experiences and the secrets of those closest to me. These embezzled backstories dictate my characters' actions as much as my own personal history decides my emotional responses. I don't invent my characters. I steal them from my surroundings. To be a writer is to be a life thief. Every day, I rob myself blind. "

― Cate Holahan , Lies She Told