Sometimes...you have to try to forget people you love just so you can keep living.

Even with all of its changing, Brooklyn's architecture still feels like home, the language feels like home. It's changing so quickly that it's surprising. It's surprising still, when someone looks kind of askance to see me walking towards them.

A lot of times, when people send me books to read - new writers mostly - I find that the book is still in a draft stage and that before it can leave the writer's hands and head to a publisher, it needs about five more revisions. Some people don't want to do that.

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

In all your getting, get understanding.

Mainly, I try not to think about my readers as I write - I just think of my characters and myself - If they're interesting to me, my hope is that they'll be interesting to others as well.

I rewrite my books until they're mostly memorized so that's a lot of rewrites, a lot of time spent with my stories.