A mother's worst fears may be the best thing that ever happened to Jodi Picoult.

Whether she's writing "Harvesting the Heart," about postpartum depression; "Vanishing Acts," about childhood sexual abuse; "The Tenth Circle," about date rape; or "Nineteen Minutes," about a Columbine-style school shooting, it's Picoult's concern for her own three children that informs every page.

The daughter of a Long Island, N.Y., stock analyst, Picoult's idyllic childhood was a far cry from the gut-wrenching family dramas that have become her stock in trade. After earning a creative writing degree at Princeton, where she met her husband Tim, Picoult (pronounced PEE-koh) worked as a technical writer on Wall Street, an advertising copywriter, a textbook publisher and an eighth-grade English teacher before returning to Harvard for her master's in education.

Picoult wrote her first novel, "Songs of the Humpback Whale," while pregnant with their first child. Since then, her best-selling fiction and her life have both been family affairs.

The author's success has enabled Tim to pursue his passion as an antiques dealer from their Hanover, N.H., home, where their three active kids, ages 15, 13 and 11, keep the Picoults on the go. Little wonder that DC Comics recently tapped Picoult to write five issues of "Wonder Woman."

Bankrate caught up with the successful hockey mom -- where else? -- on the road for a chat in the fast lane about fame, fortune and families.

Bankrate: What was your life like growing up on Long Island?

Jodi Picoult: My dad was a financial analyst on Wall Street and my mom was the director and one of the teachers at a nursery school on Long Island.

Bankrate: You dad rode the train in every day?

Picoult: Oh god, yes. Long Island Railroad. We could tell you exactly what minute he would walk in the door.

Bankrate: It sounds idyllic.

Picoult: Oh, I totally had an idyllic childhood. I had a little brother; I still like him. I mean, I had no trauma in my life. Compared to what I write, I had a very charmed life.

Bankrate: Did you get an allowance as a kid?

Picoult: I'm trying to remember if I got an allowance. I kind of think I did, which is kind of interesting since I don't give my children one! (laughs) I think I got a minimal allowance. I remember there were kids who were getting like 20 bucks a week; I was never getting that, I probably got a few dollars a week.

What I remember the most about money was, when I started to drive, my parents got me a used car and they paid for the car and said, "There you go, but if you want to drive it, you have to pay for the gas." All of a sudden it sort of reminded me, oh yeah, I have to actually make the money to go into the gas tank. I thought that was a great lesson. In fact, we just bought a used car for my 15½-year-old son, and guess what I said to him?