Our minds simply don't function in some sort of narrative chronology. I think that one of the great gifts of writing fiction is being able to think about that.

With tremendous clarity and wisdom, Daniel Tomasulo has crafted a memoir at once heartbreaking and uplifting. Layers of time and memory—childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle age—are so beautifully revealed here, a trenchant reminder that our pasts are alive inside of us. There are psychologists who can write, and writers who can psychologize, but rarely have the two met on the page with such moving, profound results.

I think there's something about a writer's disposition, that is, even if unaware, always slightly in a witness state.

We can't protect ourselves from pain and heartache.

You have to believe in yourself before the world has given you any indication that you should believe in yourself as a writer.

I'm an urban person who loves living in the country.

In a creative journey, it is essential, no matter how far one runs, to examine that which is closest to home.