Once your writing is out there, you can't control how other people perceive it. All you can do is stand in your truth.

I miss smoking (two to four packs a day) but I don't miss the crackle in my lungs when I breathed.

I think we're in a 1970s-level moment of social transition and they're always full of upheaval. As violent and deranged as we can be to each other and to other species, we've got nothing on tsunamis, hurricanes or tornadoes.

Dad and Mom were frustrated artists - Dad wanted to study engineering or architecture and Mom wanted to be an actress - but the world was a different place when they were young so Dad became a public works foreman and Mom became a stay-at-home mom. When I said I wanted to be a writer, they were thrilled. They did everything in their power to support me.

Writing about your community is difficult for any writer.

I don't know if I have a book in me, but I'm sure I have more essays.

The world is fine. Our place on it is precarious.