Let me put it this way: when I read, I learned the world was not as small as my house. And that everybody in my home town was not representative of the way people in the world were raised. And that was what saved me.

What I do know is sometimes we love the wrong people and sometimes we marry them.

I just believe that young people need to be able to learn how to write in their own voice. Just like a musician, you pride yourself on having your own distinct sound.

I try to create characters that I am fascinated by on some level or intrigued by or can't stand.

You've been killing me inside and I don't want to die like this.

We get divorce, we get conned, someone we love dies, or we can't find anybody to love us or somebody breaks our heart and we realize this fairy tale ain't fair. So we suffer.

Wherever there's a prison, for the most part, especially where there's Black people, it's overcrowded. I don't know who really gets out.