We were raised to believe in books, music, and nature.

When God is going to do something wonderful, He or She always starts with a hardship; when God is going to do something amazing, He or She starts with an impossibility.

My idea of absolute happiness is to be in bed on a rainy day, with my blankie, my cat, and my dog.

Here's how I became myself: mess, failure, mistakes, disappointments, and extensive reading; limbo, indecision, setbacks, addiction, public embarrassment, and endless conversations with my best women friends; the loss of people without whom I could not live, the loss of pets that left me reeling, dizzying betrayals but much greater loyalty, and overall, choosing as my motto William Blake's line that we are here to learn to endure the beams of love.

I was the angriest daughter on earth, and also, one of the most devoted.

Looking back on the God my friend believed in, he seems a little erratic, not entirely unlike her father - God as borderline personality.

I can never tell what I'm doing when I'm in the middle of publication because I have no confidence. I have terrible self-esteem, along with boundless narcissism.