I wrote my first novel and my second novel in Chicago. It was the place where I became a writer. It's my favorite city.

No," I said. And maybe it was only because Alaska couldn't hit the brakes and I couldn't hit the accelerator.

She never acted as if she liked him all that much, but then she never acted as if she liked anyone all that much.

Writing, or at least good writing, is an outgrowth of that urge to use language to communicate complex ideas and experiences between people. And that's true whether you're reading Shakespeare or bad vampire fiction-reading is always an act of empathy. It's always an imagining of what it's like to be someone else.

Lonley, Vaguely pedophilic swing set seeks the butts of children.

As far as I can tell, there are two basic (kissing) rules: 1. Don't bite anything without permission. 2. The human tongue is like wasabi: it's very powerful, and should be used sparingly.

I was thinking about the universe wanting to be noticed, and how I had to notice it as best I could. I felt that I owed a debt to the universe that only my attention could repay, and also that I owed a debt to everybody who didn’t get to be a person anymore and everyone who hadn’t gotten to be a person yet.