With each passing day, I didn't lose hope. I fought to have more.

Who knows where inspiration comes from. Perhaps it arises from desperation. Perhaps it comes from the flukes of the universe, the kindness of the muses.

I used to think that my mother got into arguments with people because they didn't understand her English, because she was Chinese.

My parents had very high expectations. They expected me to get straight A's from the time I was in kindergarten.

No one in my family was a reader of literary fiction. So, I didn't have encouragement, but I didn't have discouragement, because I don't think anybody knew what that meant.

It's a luxury being a writer, because all you ever think about is life.

A girl is like a young tree, she said. You must stand tall and listen to your mother standing next to you. That is the only way to grow strong and straight. But if you bend to listen to other people, you will grow crooked and weak. You will fall to the ground with the first strong wind. And then you will be like a weed, growing wild in any direction, running along the ground until someone pulls you out and throws you away.