I have to say that the traditional role is kind of a myth. I think the traditional Mexican woman is a fierce woman.

The world we live in is a house on fire and the people we love are burning.

I was reading Carl Sandburg and Gwendolyn Brooks, and I'm still very, very deeply moved by Gwendolyn Brooks's life and her work.

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

My weapon has always been language, and I've always used it, but it has changed. Instead of shaping the words like knives now, I think they're flowers, or bridges.

Being on a highway, all that speed and aggression, is very terrifying to me.

I have to take care of the house, and the dogs, and the Macondo Board meetings, all those e-mails, the letters that are going to fans. And you've got to pay bills. These things eat up your time. You have to prepare and pack to go on that trip. Then when you come back you have to file all that stuff, answer all that mail, and that's not even washing the clothes or any of that. So it takes as many days as I've been away to come back to normal and to get quiet.