Carmen prayed hard. She prayed while standing near the priest in hopes it would give her request extra credibility. What she prayed for was nothing. She prayed that God would look on them and see the beauty of their existence and leave them alone.

Love is a rebellious bird that no one can tame

Updike and Bellow and Roth were my three favorite writers when I was young and throughout my life.

I think, if you want to grow a novelist, for that person to have a lot of boring time trying to entertain themselves is very important.

Never be so focused on what you're looking for that you overlook the thing you actually find.

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

I have been accused of being a Pollyanna, but I think there are plenty of people dealing with the darker side of human nature, and if I am going to write about people who are kind and generous and loving and thoughtful, so what? In my life I have met astonishingly good people.