Home is the place where, when you go there, they have to take you in. In other words: Home has exceedingly low standards.

I have a daughter who, when younger, possessed no barrier between her emotional self and the outside world. Her emotional insides spilled out all over, and, especially when I was sleep-deprived and probably a little paranoid, this really threatened me. It was as if she were embodying and expressing the insecurities and freaked-outedness I never express, and which I've learned over the years to keep hidden.

If you agree with an outside person's interpretation of you, that's a happy bit of affirmation. It means you're communicating externally what you believe to be true internally. If you disagree, it helps clarify how you understand yourself. And maybe makes you productively question how to improve your communication skills.

When you are expending much energy on someone else's demise, it's like you weaken your psychic immune system.

Structure is, for me, the most fun challenge about writing novels.

I wish somebody knew whether or not I'm Jewish.

I've subsequently become conscious of MAKING MEMORIES. Which makes me sound like a scrapbooker.