It's frightening when things you love appear suddenly changed from what you have always known.

After 'The Poisonwood Bible' was published, several people believed that my parents were missionaries, which could not be further from the truth.

That was when we smelled the rain. It was so strong it seemed like more than just a smell. When we stretched out our hands we could practically feel it rising up from the ground. I don’t know how a person could ever describe that scent.

Downstream is always someone else's up.

Maybe life doesn't get any better than this, or any worse, and what we get is just what we're willing to find: small wonders, where they grow.

It's as if cats live in a seperate universe that takes up the same space as ours, but is full of facinating things like mice or sparrows or special TV programs that we can't see.

The most important thing about a person is always the thing you don't know.