Age plays cruel tricks on the human face; all our repressed feelings become visible on the surface, where they harden like a mask.

I've never written about my husband, Steve, or any of my children because I know them all too well. I see them in all their complexities which makes them impossible to render on the printed page.

It's disconcerting to realize how little you have to say to someone who once occupied such a prominent place in your bed.

There's nothing quite as irksome as someone else's mess.

Writing is not about making a buck, not about publishers and agents. Writing is not about feeling good. Writing is about pain, suffering, hard work, risk, and fear.

Give yourself time to get better.

The hard thing about death is that nothing ever changes. The hard thing about life is that nothing stays the same.