A lot of my writing is not terribly civilized. Sometimes I listen to songs by very smart writers who assume that the world is a civil place with certain formalities that people follow, but I don't see things that way. My own experience tells me that life is not like that. That's why I write the way I do.

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.

You have to defend your honor. And your family.

That said, I've never thought the fact that I'm a woman was important to my work.

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.

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

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