I always thought it mattered, to know what is the worst possible thing that can happen to you, to know how you can avoid it, to not be drawn by the magic of the unspeakable.

I love my daughter. She and I have shared my body. There is a part of her mind that is a part of mine. But when she was born, she sprang from me like a slippery fish, and has been swimming away ever since.

Writing is an extreme privilege but it's also a gift. It's a gift to yourself and it's a gift of giving a story to someone.

It was a distorted form of inverse logic: If hopes never come true, then hope for what you don't want.

Among writers, if you don't have a therapist, it's like saying you don't keep a journal or use the thesaurus. It's a natural accompaniment.

Why do some memories live only on your tongue or in your nose? Why do others always stay in your heart?

For woman is yin, the darkness within, where untempered passions lie. And man is yang, bright truth lighting our minds.