I am a woman, and I am a Latina. Those are the things that make my writing distinctive. Those are the things that give my writing power.

I am a woman, and I am a Latina. Those are the things that make my writing distinctive. Those are the things that give my writing power.

One press account said I was an overnight success. I thought that was the longest night I've ever spent.

Mexico is only a memory of childhood safety.

You get good at being by yourself and you're condemned to a life sentence of solitude. You think, "Wait a minute! I should have been a tap dancer or something". But in my life, I feel like I take my stories to people orally.

If you live in poor neighborhoods - I know from living in several poor neighborhoods - the worst supermarkets in the city are in the poorest neighborhoods, where people don't have cars.

[Courage] always bigger than what you think you can handle, but you're never going to be given something you can't handle. So you say, "Okay, when you tell me what it is that I'm supposed to do, please give me the courage to do it."