I put on the page a third look at what I've seen in life - the reinvented experience of a cross-eyed working-class lesbian, addicted to violence, language and hope, who has made the decision to live, is determined to live, on the page and on the street, for me and mine.

And while it is true that I got the best woman in the world, I don't think love saves you.

Don't go taking that gospel stuff seriously. It's nice to clean you out now and then, but it ain't for real. It's like bad whiskey. Run through you fast and leave you with pain.

Teenagers are free verse walking around on two legs.

Fiction is a piece of truth that turns lies to meaning.

I'm still very blunt: If you want to be a writer, get a day job. The fact that I have actually been able to make a living at it is astonishing.

When I was growing up, I always read horror books, while my sister read romance novels.