There were also horror shows on the radio. Very terrifying and thrilling to me as a kid. They had all these creepy sound effects. They would come on at ten o'clock at night, and I just would scare myself to death.

Don't say Fili, sister. Say Pili. In Tagalog, pili means to choose. Pino means fine. Pilipino equals 'fine choice.

I'm an underdog person, so I align myself with those who seem to be not considered valuable in polite society.

Becoming a mother has helped make me a tougher, stronger writer.

Life is not simple, and people can't be boxed into being either heroes or villains.

There is real beauty in my eyes when I lose my mind.

Writers and scholars have emerged in recent times (some familiar, some new) to continue to challenge the notion of a literature that encompasses the world - and reaffirms our existence in it. It is a multicultural vision that embraces and includes our shrinking universe; it is a multicultural vision that the white man fears and a vision that the rest of us can celebrate.