Rule 1: When all else fails, follow instructions. And Rule 2: Don't be an asshole.

I go to church every Sunday, which is like going to the gas station once a week and really, really filling up.

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it.

Everything takes me forever. It's all lurch, flail. I hope that is good news to you writers.

I honestly think that in order to be a writer you have to learn to be reverent. If not, why are you writing? Why are you here?

When I was young, I used to be so jealous of other girls that it crippled me.

This is the Easter message, that awakening is possible, to the goodness of God, the sacredness of human life, the sisterhood and brotherhood of all.