You have those walls up all around you...Come a day you gonna want to tear them down brick by brick and gonna find that the cement is all hard. What you gonna do then?

There's me in every character I put on the pages.

In all your getting, get understanding.

To watch your home change in front of you is surprising. But at the same time, going someplace like Mississippi, makes me appreciate even this.

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

Everything I write, I read out loud. It has to sound a certain way. It has to look a certain way on the page.

There is so much work left to be done in the world and for me, I am hoping to make the change I can and do the work I need to do through this gift I've been given.