No matter how long your've been at it, you always start from scratch.

People don't save other people. People save themselves.

I want an ending that’s satisfying. I’m more of a classical writer than a modernist one in that I want the ending to be coherent and feel like an ending. I don’t like when it just seems to putter out. I mean, life is chaotic enough.

She wanted a book to take her places she couldn't get to herself.

Detroit's a great music town. If your interaction with it was mainly musical, I'm sure you have a good opinion of the place.

Though at this moment she felt abused, abandoned, and ashamed of herself, Madeleine knew that she was still young, that she had her whole life ahead of her--a life in which, if she persevered, she might do something special--and that part of persevering meant getting past moments just like this one, when people made you feel small, unlovable, and took away your confidence.

Grief is natural,' she said. 'Overcoming it is a matter of choice.