After a while, the characters I'm writing begin to feel real to me. That's when I know I'm heading in the right direction

I can hurt myself more than anyone else can, she told her sister. I can do it with my eyes closed.

I never plot out my novels in terms of the tone of the book. Hopefully, once a story is begun it reveals itself

If we had paid attention, we would have understood there are some things in this world you cannot outrun.

Sometimes they would sit in the parlor together, both reading – in entirely separate worlds, to be sure, but joined somehow. When this happened, other people in the family couldn't bring themselves to disturb them. All that could be heard in the parlor was the sound of pages, turning.

It's not finding what's lost, it's understanding what you've found.

Burn me. Drown me. Tell me lies. I will still be who I am.