Both my mother and I have close groups of friends that include other writers, and these friendships are very important to us.

After a certain age, you felt a need not to be alone. It grew stronger, like a radio frequency, until finally it was so powerful that you were forced to do something about it.

People could not get enough of what they had lost, even if they no longer wanted it.

For me, a novel relying too heavily on a single idea might be a dry, deadly thing unless it possesses an animating force.

I always thought it was the saddest and most devastating ending. How you could have these enormous dreams that never get met. How without knowing it you could just make yourself smaller over time. I don't want that to happen to me.

Good writing is good writing, and I'm so happy when I read it.

New teachers were just a part of life, for a few days after one arrived, squawks of interest were emitted from various corners, but then they died away as the teacher was absorbed like everyone else...before you knew it, the fresh ones seemed to have been teaching there forever too, or else they didn't last very long, and were gone before you'd gotten to know them.