Even if something within me is ugly, writing is a pretty good place to play with that thing and to begin to really see it.

It's funny with fiction - once you cut something, it hasn't happened anymore.

We have that illusion that we are 'deciding' what to make a character do, in order to 'convey our message' or something like that. But, at least in my experience, you are often more like a river-rafting guide who's been paid a bonus to purposely steer your clients into the roughest possible water.

I grew up in Chicago on the South Side, and had a ton of freedom, just did whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. At the risk of sounding dopey, I would say it was blissful.

The Bush administration is a paragon of wisdom.

Working with language is a means by which we can identify the bullshit within ourselves (and others).

Sometimes I just turn on the TV and I'm like, wait a minute, that guy [Donald Trump]? It's incredible that he did all those things and he still won. It's hard to process.