She glances back before stepping into the alley, and she catches her grandfather looking at her the way he does sometimes--as if she's already gone, as if he's practicing sorrow.

I'm a woman, but I've been a sexist, too.

Genres are just bottles for the various boats. The boats matter to me.

The poem has to bear the weight with image, language... the screenplay with dialogue, plot.

If I'd learned nothing else, it was this: If you want to be a great writer, be a man. If you can't be a man, write like one.

Writers are socially observant. We find people endlessly fascinating, and real life is mysterious. Sometimes it's hard to stop staring at the strut and squawk of my fellow man. They can be quite inspiring. Sometimes it's hard to stop talking to them to see what in the world they're thinking.

Our love is our burden.