Anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it is going to be called realistic.

Right now the whole world seems to be going through a dark night of the soul.

It is better to be young in your failures than old in your successes.

All my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it, but most people think of these stories as hard, hopeless and brutal.

Fiction is about everything human and we are made out of dust, and if you scorn getting yourself dusty, then you shouldn't try to write fiction. It's not a grand enough job for you.

I am very handy with my advice and then when anybody appears to be following it, I get frantic.

The truth is not distorted here, but rather a distortion is used to get at truth.