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

For me, a story's a story if people want to hear it; it's very much based on oral storytelling. And for me, a story is a story when people give me the privilege of listening when I'm speaking it out loud.

You know, we should have cards like the deaf have. "Can't talk, I'm writing today."

I learned from the Macarturos. I had never been at a table with a labor organizer and a playwright and a performance artist and an anthropologist and a human rights lawyer. Usually at most gatherings, it's all writers. But suddenly I was at a table with all these different people and I learned from each of them, learned from the work they're doing, learned new ways to solve my problems.

I don't really think our government at heart wants peace. So I urge you, write to Mrs. Laura Bush, because she reads.

I was raised in Chicago, so always used Latina. It's what my Father and brothers called ourselves, when we meant the entire Spanish-speaking community of Chicago.

When we started publishing, you had to be better than good. You had to be excellent. But as long as people are reading, I don't care what they're reading.