Writing a story, you understand, is not done by consensus. But we do learn from each other, and we remind ourselves how important this work we're doing is.

I had begun what I thought might be a career in social work. I was married and deeply involved in the anti-war movement. I thought I'd go about saving the world one person at a time. I worked with kids, teenagers mostly, in neighborhood centers, on the streets, and eventually in a drop-in center.

Love is anticipation and memory, uncertainty and longing. It’s unreasonable, of course. Nothing begins with so much excitement and hope and pleasure as love, except maybe writing a story. And nothing fails as often, except writing stories. And like a story, love must be troubled to be interesting.

We all sleep with the corpses of our dead lovers.

A pure love is a selfless love, but can desire ever be selfless?

The facts, however, are unimportant in fiction. It's not the events of my life that I mine, but the emotional experiences I've had.

The landscape of childhood shapes us as it shapes the characters in our stories. You never forget the sacred places of your childhood.