I was the oldest child, and both my parents worked, so I had a great deal of responsibility from a very young age.

I didn't go out looking for fights as a kid, but if it was necessary, I'd fight. Fighting was a daily thing where we lived.

It takes as much discipline to be a mother and a wife as it does to do anything else.

Writing in other voices is almost Japanese in the sense that theres a certain formality there which allows me to sidestep the embarrassment of directly expressing to complete strangers the most intimate details of my life.

I dont think gender is aesthetically defining for me.

I still consider myself a feminist.

I wasn't afraid of going places or doing new things. I would do just about anything or go anywhere. I'd get a notion in my mind and just follow it.