When it comes to memoir, we want to catch the author in a lie. When we read fiction, we want to catch the author telling the truth.

I was kind of an invisible girl when I was young.

It's funny how three or four notes of anger can be struck at once, creating the perfect chord of fury.

When I am writing a story it feels as real as the life I am experiencing off the page. It's an emotional illusion, I guess.

This is what I have come to know: Our past is never passed and there is no such thing as moving on. But there is this telling and there is such a thing as passing through.

I am always urging my students to honor their writing practice, to set up a schedule.

When you write a novel, you make other people see your imaginary friends.