The only difference between a published and unpublished writer is a tolerance for imperfection.

My art feels like it's real disobedient. I can fill notebooks with observations and maybe they find their way into the work unconsciously, which is great. I've never been able to directly plug, like to take a little snip that I've picked up on the street and transfer it into a story. I don't know what's wrong, but it never works that way.

Sometimes you just have to try, even if you know it won’t work.

I find reading to be a delight, a source of comfort, a way to explore.

I know a number of people who - from the comments they make - are going to vote for [Donald] Trump when that curtain closes. But let's keep it real honest here: They are voting for a xenophobic, anti-Latino white supremacist - don't try to pretty it up. This is now the age when people want to be white supremacists, but they don't actually want to be known for it.

Anger has a way of returning.

You eventually erase her contact info from your phone but not the pictures you took of her in bed while she was naked and asleep, never those.