I did what most writers do when something happens that's overwhelming, fascinating, moving, all of that. I didn't know what else to do about it except write about it.

I think we can work through a lot of political and international problems, but what really frightens me is what's happening environmentally.

I really just wanted to be a writer, but people tell you, 'You should have a backup career,' so I thought, 'OK, I'll act.' That was the foolishness of my vision for my life - that my backup career would be completely undependable.

People love the way they're capable of loving-but that's not always how you want them to love or how you think they should love.

Stories live in your blood and bones, follow the seasons and light candles on the darkest night-every storyteller knows she or he is also a teacher.

That is your legacy on this Earth when you leave this Earth: how many hearts you touched.

Some people, when they die, leave so much life behind that we wonder how they did it.