When I first met my husband, he was sculpting Vilnius out of clay - a sort of Vilnius, anyhow: a map of an imaginary European city based on the Lithuanian capital - to illustrate his second novel.

I met my wife, Nia Vardalos, at The Second City, and she was chomping at the bit to move to L.A.

I sort of don't believe in closure. In the sense that it doesn't make me feel better to think that something is over.

When I tell people there are three stories in 'Thunderstruck' that were from the same wrecked novel, they want to guess what they are. Nobody has. There are no characters or timelines in common. They're structured very differently. A good novel wouldn't have pulled apart so easily.

I have no wish for a second husband. l had enough of the first. I like to have my own way to lie down mistress, and get up master.

I have a memory of my fourth-grade self wanting to be the first woman president of the United States, but I think that has a lot more to do with my love of world records and reference books than a love of serving my country.