I think about Old Nick carrying me into the truck, I'm dizzy like I'm going to fall down. "Scared is what you're feeling," says Ma, "but brave is what you're doing." "Huh?" "Scaredybrave." "Scave." Word sandwiches always make her laugh but I wasn't being funny.

Change for your own sake, if you must, not for what you imagine another will ask of you.

...sentences swallowed and sung back and swallowed all over again. She was made entirely out of words.

When people write to me with stories, they are never ones that work for me. There's something mysterious about which ones catch you.

What's crucial about being an executive producer is that you stay in the loop, information-wise. They have to share all their major decisions with you.

Goodbye, Room." I wave up at Skylight. "Say goodbye," I tell Ma. "Goodbye, Room." Ma says it but on mute. I look back one more time. It's like a crater, a hole where something happened. Then we go out the door.

...Sometimes I suspect that what had really happened was that we became more resigned, more cynical, raised our pain thresholds as we lowered our expectations. All in all, settled for less.