Gravy is the simplest, tastiest, most memory-laden dish I know how to make: a little flour, salt and pepper, crispy bits of whatever meat anchored the meal, a couple of cups of water or milk and slow stirring to break up lumps.

If I could have found what I needed at thirteen, I would not have lost so much of my life chasing vindication or death. Give some child, some thirteen-year old, the hope of the remade life. Tell the truth. Write the story that you were always afraid to tell. I swear to you there is magic in it.

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

my life has been saved over and over again by picking up a book in which someone captured the whole experience of being despised and not dying.

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

Write the story that you were always afraid to tell. I swear to you that there is magic in it, and if you show yourself naked for me, I'll be naked for you. It will be our covenant.

I am the only one who can tell the story of my life and say what it means.