The thing you can count on in life is that Tennessee will always be scorching hot in August.

I have seven step-siblings from my mother's second and third marriages. My degree of closeness to my step-siblings varies among the seven but I have a great sense of loyalty to all of them, especially the four from my childhood. If those people needed my help I would be there for them.

When well told, a story captured the subtle movement of change. If a novel was a map of a country, a story was the bright silver pin that marked the crossroads.

People gave me such a bad time about wanting a baby. I didn't want a baby, and I still don't. I wanted a dog.

Hope is a horrible thing, you know. I don't know who decided to package hope as a virtue because it's not. It's a plague. Hope is like walking around with a fishhook in your mouth and somebody just keeps pulling it and pulling it.

Home, bed, sleep, mother--who knew more beautiful words than these?

I always used to be an inside person, and now I'm an outside person.