Writers aren't born properly labeled so it is hard to know one when one appears.

I want women writers to write boldly, wildly, deeply. I want them to feel really liberated to tell the brutal truth, however they see that truth and are moved to tell it.

The generation of women who came before us did much of our shouting. They laid the groundwork and now we can be calm and constant and steady.

My oldest sister was an actress living in NYC by the time I was ten, and desperately wanted to be the one in charge of the words.

Omission is a sin only if, in the process of deceiving, you forget the truth. Lying is a sin only if, in the process, the lie becomes the only truth.

But there it is: Everyone is alone, for life, and maybe that's not such a bad thing.

When a colleague of mine had a notable New York Times book, I said, turn one of the chapters in the collection into a pitch for a novel and sell it to your publisher.