Because I write realistic fiction, I generally don't think about fixing anyone - I just think about how I want to feel at the end of the book - And I try to write toward that feeling.

When I'm writing flawed characters, I just think about my own flaws.

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

We live inside our parents' backstory.

I feel like so much of what I'm doing is making a road where there is no road and inviting people on that road with me. It's scary. It's scary, but I can't listen to the voices that are saying form is the only way, or that there is only this kind of form or that kind of form.

In all your getting, get understanding.

I think I'd rather have my heart broke than do the breaking. —Lena