knowledge of our own mortality is the greatest gift God ever gives us.

We are writers. We danced with words, as children, in what became familiar patterns. The words became our friends and our companions, and without even saying it aloud, a thought danced with them: I can do this. This is who I am.

All parents should be aware that when they mock or curse gay people, they may be mocking or cursing their own child.

The truth is that when you're writing a novel you're really living in it; you're living in the house, and you're living in the town.

When I write a novel, I have what I think of as an icon that helps get me into the world of the book.

The dark aftermath of the frontier, of the vast promise of possibility this country first offered, is an inflated sense of American entitlement today. We want what we want, and we want it now. Easy credit. Fast food. A straight shot down the interstate from point A to point B. The endless highway is crowded with the kinds of cars large enough to take a mountain pass in high snow. Instead they are used to take children from soccer practice to Pizza Hut. In the process they burn fuel like there's no tomorrow. Tomorrow's coming.

I can't think of a single downside to motherhood now.