Now I feel life is really short and I have to take care of things.

I am obsessed with becoming a woman comfortable in her skin.

I began writing as an experimental writer.

I think people are much more concerned about money now. There aren't the big advances of the past. You feel the sense of nervousness about the book industry. It's not like before. Not that I knew very much about what it was like because I was a newcomer to it, but I get that feeling that people are more conservative in their book choices and what they are going to publish and what's a sure sell. As opposed to - just like in the economy - a sense of luxury and sense of risk taking ten years ago.

The beauty of literature is you allow readers to see things through other peoples eyes. All good books do this.

I learn through listening and watching other performers that are very good, like Denise Chávez, Dorothy Allison.

Once you can open yourself to joy, you feel as if you've transformed your sadness into illumination, which is really all that art is. All we want to do is transform the negative emotions into light. We want to compost them into light.