I never claimed to be a low-maintenance gal, but when I'm writing, it's particularly challenging. I lose things constantly: my watch, my glasses, my papers, my mind.

A scent that disturbs me and delights me. It smells like ripe pears, vetiver, a bit of violet and something else- something spicy almost biting and exotic.

Maybe people are more like the earth than we know. Maybe they have fault lines that sooner or later are going to split open under pressure.

I value humor, kindness, and the ability to tell a good story far more than money, status, or the kind of car someone drives.

There is the truth of history, and there is the truth of what a person remembers.

Don't ever admit you know a thing about cooking or it'll be used against you.

The love we most cherish will, of necessity, bring us pain. Because that love is like the setting of a body with broken bones. But I want to stage the setting. I want to direct all scenes.