I compromised my ability to tell my story, at the most basic level.

For 25 years, I did take my responsibilities as a pleaser of others sufficiently seriously.

It troubles me that people speak about writing for money as ugly and distasteful.

The vehemence with which certain critics have chosen not simply to criticize what I've written, but to challenge my writing this story at all, speaks of what the book is about: fear of disapproval.

My job is writing. I get paid to do it. When was the last time you heard someone challenge a doctor for making money off of cancer?

I was giving a speech one time, and the woman who introduced me said, 'Well, she used to be J. D. Salinger's girlfriend. I thought, 'God, is that all I've been?' I didn't want to be reduced to that.

At Home in the World is the story of a young woman, raised in some difficult circumstances, and how she survives. It tells a story of redemption, not victimhood.