I have a very sensitive nose. I identify with dogs. I understand the world through my nose.

What I would like to give my daughter is freedom. And this is something that must be given by example, not exhortation. Freedom is a loose leash, license to be different from your mother and still be loved...Freedom is...not insisting that your daughter share your limitations. Freedom also means letting your daughter reject you when she needs to and come back when she needs to. Freedom is unconditional love.

Most sex doesn't really bring people together. You have to reach a certain level of connection, I think, and that's pretty rare.

Love is everything it's cracked up to be

I started with poetry because it was direct, immediate, and short. It was the ecstasy of striking matches in the dark.

I don't necessarily read everything. I read what I need to read to inspire the book I'm trying to finish.

Feminism is teaching. I've gotten a lot of pleasure pushing younger writers that I've met and worked with.