Troubles cured you salty as a country ham, smoky to the taste, thick-skinned and tender inside.

Listening is terribly important if you want to understand anything about people. You listen to what they say and how they say it, what they share and what they are reticent about, what they tell truthfully and what they lie about, what they hope for and what they fear, what they are proud of, what they are ashamed of. If you don't pay attention to other people, how can you understand their choices through time and how their stories come out?

The art of fiction is one of constant seduction. You must persuade the reader on page 1 to start reading - on page 50, or page 150 and yes, on page 850.

the body is simple as a turtle / and straight as a dog: / the body cannot lie.

I'm probably the only novelist who has ever written about political fugitives who actually knew a lot about them, had contact with them, and had a realistic notion of how they survived.

I am my mother's daughter,... I am her only novel.

Pain is a forcing sieve that turns me to gruel.