Being a novelist and being a mother have exactly coincided in my life: the call from my agent saying that I had a contract for my first novel - that was on my answering phone message when I got back from the hospital with my first child.

Our plans are small and somewhat absurd.

Stop a minute, right where you are. Relax your shoulders, shake your head and spine like a dog shaking off cold water. Tell that imperious voice in your head to be still.

What a writer can do, what a fiction writer or a poet or an essay writer can do is re-engage people with their own humanity.

I've never gotten over high school, to the extent that I'm still a little surprised that my friends want to hang out with me.

I considered her my ally, because, like me, she was imperfect.

It takes some courage to write fiction about politically controversial topics. The dread is you'll be labeled a political writer.