Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.

Gratitude, not understanding, is the secret to joy and equanimity.

Her purse was a weight, ballast; it tethered her to the earth as her mind floated away.

You are going to love some of your characters because they are you or some facet of you, and you are going to hate some of your characters for the same reason.

I'm kind of a gossip hound, but watching the media whip the small fires into giant forest fires so that they can cover the result is infuriating.

If God was giving me a ham, I'd be crazy not to receive it. Maybe it was the ham of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

A big heart is both a clunky and a delicate thing; it doesn't protect itself and it doesn't hide. It stands out, like a baby's fontanel, where you can see the soul pulse through.