Jerome was sliding and climbing on top of me and it felt like it had the night before, like a crushing weight. So do boys and men announce their intentions. They cover you like a sarcophagus lid. And call it love.

Basically you come up with the fictional idea and you start writing that story, but then in order to write it and to make it seem real, you sometimes put your own memories in. Even if it's a character that's very different from you.

girls forbidden to dance would only attract husbands with bad complexions and sunken chests.

But maybe the Charm Bracelets understood more about life than I did. From an early age they knew what little value the world placed in books, and so didn't waste their time with them. Whereas I, even now, persist in believing that these black marks on white paper bear the greatest significance, that if I keep writing, I might be able to catch the rainbow of consciousness in a jar.

She may have looked normal on the outside, but once you'd seen her handwriting you knew she was deliciously complicated inside.

Winter is the season of alcoholism and despair.

On their best days, writers all over the world are winning Pulitzers, all alone in their studios, with no one watching.