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

Girls are crazy and mean. They don't fight fair.

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.

If language were liquid, it would be rushing in. Instead here we are in a silence more eloquent than any word could ever be.

Kindness to me is only powerful if it has the cruel streak behind it. If someone is kind all the time under all circumstances, they're just simple-minded. Kindness is only worth something if you have the cruel streak to back it up.

My mother wanted me to understand that as a woman I could do pretty much whatever I wanted to, that I didn't have to use sex or sexuality to define myself.

You have to defend your honor. And your family.