I take mentoring very seriously and as a result I hardly get any work done during the school year.

My first novel, Leaving Atlanta, took at look at my hometown in the late 1970s, when the city was terrorized by a serial murderer that left at least 29 African-American children dead.

I like straightforward names for my characters. When I get too symbolic with names or places, I start feeling like the characters and the story are less read, and I lose interest.

I do have a sister - I have two sisters.

I don’t mind expressing my opinions and speaking out against injustice. I would be doing this even if I wasn’t a writer. I grew up in a household that believed in social justice. I have always understood myself as having an obligation to stand on the side of the silenced, the oppressed, and the mistreated.

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

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.