In the 1980s, when people were just beginning to talk about AIDS, there were just a few categories of those who were at high risk: homosexuals, hemophiliacs, heroin addicts, and Haitians. We were the only ones identified by nationality.

I was able to not fold and go in a corner because I had my writing as therapy, but also as my tool for struggle.

The best moment in writing any book is when you just can't wait to get back to the writing, when you can't wait to re-enter that fictional place, when your fictional town feels even more real than the town where you actually live.

More and more people are able to access information - thank goodness we have the Internet and if you are interested you can find things. Which is different than even 20 years ago.

Wonderful thing about novels is that sometimes we read a novel and we know the person in the novel more than we know people in our own lives.

I would hate for people to generalize about every Haitian from something that one Haitian did, or a group of Haitians did.

If a woman is worth remembering,' said my grandmother, 'there is no need to have her name carved in letters.