Fifteen. Sixteen was probably something, but fifteen - fifteen was a place between here and nowhere.

I think writers are the history keepers, right? We're the ones who are bearing witness to what's going on in the world. And I feel like it's our job to put that down on paper, and put it out into the world, so that it can be remembered.

I feel like the world stopped. And I got off...and then it started spinning again, but too fast for me to hop back on. I feel like I'm still trying to get a...to get some kind of foothold on living

For me as a writer, it was understanding that we're so far behind in our way of dealing with death. We put someone in the ground, we bury them or we burn them, and then we're supposed to just move on and kind of get over it.

Don't trust women, my mother said to me. Even the ugly ones will take what you thought was yours.

Yes, writing is not easy. But can any writer imagine NOT writing?

I think people are sometime reluctant to read outside of their own race. This is heartbreaking.