I really believe that fiction functions best when stories are allowed to develop in an organic way, so I didn't set out to deliver a specific message.

It requires a certain kind of bravery, I suppose, to choose the status quo. There's a certain boldness to inaction.

It's really hard to get a book published, even a good book, but the better the book is the better chance it has of eventually catching someone's attention.

My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that imagined reader, which is a crucial part of learning to tell stories.

My goal was just to tell the unlikely story in a way that would feel as convincing as possible.

Nothing has happened to me out of the closet that was anywhere near as dangerous as being closeted.

Working as an editor was like being a professional reader, and the better I became at reading the better I became at writing.