I think each writer has to seek her most energetic prose style. She has to find a way to write so that nobody can deny it.

It seems to me that there are certain thoughts and vignettes and attitudes that I have always had the desire to represent.

Someone told me once - I mean I said, "Is it ok that I don't really know what the three-act structure is?" And he said, "It's basically: Act 1: a guy climbs up a tree; Act 2: people come and throw stuff at him; Act 3: he gets down."

I sometimes imagine a great writer as a sort of God-surrogate: the writer is doing his or her human-best to emulate what God might think of is, if God was inclined to observe some human beings and present their activities in the form of a narrative.

Social media sometimes feels like a vehicle for one-dimensional sniping, more than true criticism.

I know what it feels like to be in that middle and lower-middle class, and feel like the culture is passing you by; it translates into a great sense of personal frustration that can then morph into political frustration.

Your first responsibility is to yourself and to your own goodness of heart.