I was over at Alison's [McGhee], I think we were playing Scrabble. I remember we were both complaining - yeah, we sound like whiners - about how hard writing is, and how we didn't have a story to work on. Alison said, 'Why don't we work on writing something together,' and I said, 'Eh, I don't know if I could work that way.' She said, 'Well, just show up here and we'll see,' and I said, 'Well, what would it be about?' She said, 'Duh, it'd be about a tall girl and a short girl.' So I agreed to come and try it for a day.

There is nothing sweeter in this sad world than the sound of someone you love calling your name.

One, we [with Alison McGhee] laugh a lot - that was great. Two, I enjoy writing, but it's a lonely undertaking. To have someone in the room with me is an absolute delight and makes it seem less impossible. It became a kind of comforting, joyful process.

Minnesota has been so good to me and so pleased that I love Minnesota.

There is nothing worse than war in the summetime.

No matter how hard you try to be present at home, you're always doing the things that you have to do.

A friend of mine said Winn-Dixie is the way that people want the world to be and Tiger Rising is the way that it is.