I don't write with an outline. I don't often know what I'm going to do as I'm writing. And I do everything by feel and by instinct.

America was first colonized by Puritans. Most of our earliest immigrants, and many since, have come here in order to practice their religious beliefs as they please. Our culture has always been, and will most likely always be, profoundly influenced by religion.

Live and let live, do not judge, take life as it comes and deal with it, everything will be okay.

Fear, he said, ran all of our lives. Fear, he said, after religion, was the most destructive force in the world.

I've been alone my whole life, I can't do it anymore.

She is sitting on frozen ground wrapped in a blanket, her pale skin shining. She smiles and she stands and without words, she steps forward, opens the blanket, envelops me within it and within her and within myself. She kisses my cheek, the one not torn, she wraps me and she holds me. Her arms are thin but strong. She whispers in my ear, "I'm glad you're here.

Not everyone who works hard makes their dream come true. You need luck and hard work and being in the right place at the right time but I still very much believe it's possible.