I knew what it was to yearn for a life so distant it seemed that it had never been anything more than a dream.

What else is there to write about than love and loss?

Love ambushed you, it lay in wait, dormant for days or years. It was the red thread, the peach stone, the kiss, the forgiveness. It came after you, it escaped you, it was invisible, it was everything.

All the characters in my books are imagined, but all have a bit of who I am in them - much like the characters in your dreams are all formed by who you are

My grandmother was overwhelmed by what was happening to us. She ahd moved back into the past because the here and the now was too terrible.

Avoid men who call you Baby, and women who have no friends, and dogs that scratch at their bellies and refuse to lie down at your feet. Wear dark glasses; bathe with lavender oil and cool fresh water. Seek shelter from the sun at noon.

Sometimes words drew blood, they cut your tongue, they made you know things you couldn't unknow.