I look white to a lot of people. And I'm not. I'm African-American. I'm mixed. I like to call myself Mulatto because that definition fits. So, you know, I've dealt with the conflict my whole life between how I look and my actual ethnic and racial identity.

I look white to a lot of people. And I'm not. I'm African-American. I'm mixed. I like to call myself Mulatto because that definition fits. So, you know, I've dealt with the conflict my whole life between how I look and my actual ethnic and racial identity.

My strong suit is that I've been willing to risk on the page to get somewhere interesting.

I'm really suspicious of anybody who comes in and says, this is your identity now, or this is your belief system, and now that you have this, everything's going to be great.

It is a great moment in every freak's life when he or she finds out that at least they are not the only one.

People aren't social. They're tribal. Race doesn't exist, but tribes are real.

I've been writing forever, 20 years.