Express everything you like. No word can hurt you. None. No idea can hurt you. Not being able to express an idea or word will hurt you more. Like a bullet.

A piece of cloth that is called "linen" has more validity than calling you and me "black" or "negro." "Cotton" has more validity as cotton than yours and my being "black."

I can write anywhere. I actually wrote more than I ever did when I had small children. My children were never a hindrance.

I've never let the criticism deter me.

I wrote home to say how lovely everything was, and I used flourishing words and phrases, as if I were living life in a greeting card - the kind that has a satin ribbon on it, and quilted hearts and roses, and is expected to be so precious to the person receiving it that the manufacturer has placed a leaf of plastic on the front to protect it.

In my writing I'm trying to explore the violations people commit upon each other.

When I write a book, I hope to be beyond mortal by the time I'm finished.