I loved Charlotte Bronte when I was little, and I wanted to be Charlotte Bronte the way people want to be a princess.

A professional writer is a joke. You write because you can't do anything else, and then you have another job.

Children like their mothers especially to be standing still and watching them, even if they are sleeping. At least that's how I felt. There's nothing wrong with the self-interest of children; it's just the way they are.

I like cooking, but I think someone else ought to do the dishes.

People only say I’m angry because I’m black and I’m a woman.

if I'd thought that nobody would like it as I was writing it, I would have written it even more. But I never think of the audience. I never think of people reading. I never think of people, period.

I read about writers who have routines. They write at certain times of the day. I can't do that. I am always writing-but in my head.