I've always felt like my nose is pressed to glass. I always feel a little bit like an outsider.

We are tyrannized by our options.

When I near the end of a book, it feels as if the entire universe meets me more than halfway and supports me. The whole world seems to shimmer when I find the words. My mind quiets.

We can't protect ourselves from pain and heartache.

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.

Writing has been my window-flung wide open to this magnificent, chaotic existence-my way of interpreting everything within my grasp.

If there's anything weirder than an introverted writer going to lots of social functions, it's an introverted writer being converted into an accidental guru.