If you think back to your first love, you always remember them and little things always remind you of them.

For people to even think that I'd be considered or a good candidate for a supporting actress nomination is mind blowing to me.

Getting hit on by both genders is such a champagne problem.

I find it's really hard for anybody to meet anyone. I'm not big on dates anyways. I still have to work that out.

I want to play Lena Horne because I've always been fascinated with her. Her talent was astounding and more than that, her life story is incredible.

I will admit to hoarding beauty products. I'm a beauty lady.

It's on my bucket list, to get in a real fight.

My passion for music is one of my greatest loves.

From the time I was 16 to really up until turning 21, the roles were really, really few and far between. I had people say that I just wasn't a good singer. They didn't know what to do with me; I would never fit in any markets. I almost quit acting altogether.

Honestly, I never thought I'd actually be playing a teen lesbian. I didn't think it was going to go this far. But I'm glad that it did, because there have been a lot of fans who have expressed that they've been going through similar situations in their lives.

I am half Puerto Rican, a quarter German and a quarter black. That was always a big issue for me - being mixed race - because casting directors tended to be very like, 'OK, are you Hispanic for this role?' 'Or is she going to be African American?'

I love hot yoga. I go to a sculpt class with weights. That's really good for the core and it's obviously super hot. I love cardio bar. I'm not a big gym fan, so I like to go to classes.

I think it's important to be able to say that you did live a normal life and struggled to make ends meet. It all has to do with work ethic and how I apply myself to my awesome job now. I've always been used to working because I've been working since I was four.

I used to be a workout fiend and I was so unhappy because I wanted to eat what I wanted to eat. So now if I know I have to be in a bikini, I'll obviously watch what I eat for a week.

I had been raised in the church, but I wasn't a Christian. I had a lot of head knowledge but no heart knowledge.

I want to see Christian fiction speak to the hard and real issues that tear people's lives apart.

I'll often dream about characters before I start writing their stories.

Like everyone else, there are days when I don't want to go to work. However, writing is a job like anything else.

My job is to allow the character to live and breathe - and become as real to the reader as he or she is to me.

The goal is to have every character take on a life of his or her own. Sometimes characters will come into the story that I haven't planned.