When I was starting out there was no Internet, there wasn't this sense that you could be connected to other writers around the world. And that created a kind of innocence, or parochial quality, even in NYC.

It's easier in an urban world to cast the blame outward. So I've learned a lot about my own process in that way.

The only graceful thing to do is recognize and embrace what is actually happening, rather than fight against it.

There's nothing confessional about crafting and shaping a story out of a lived life. In fact, it's quite the opposite - the writer has to be able to transcend the life, to see it as if standing outside of it, in order to be able to make something of it. There's something enormously satisfying and gratifying about crafting something, taking all that chaos and giving it shape.

You can start your day over anytime.

If we grew up with nothing, we're complicated with that. That's the thing I keep hearing from people.

Our pain is a part of who we authentically are.