Grown don't mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What's that supposed to mean? In my heart it don't mean a thing.

I have a lot of respect for readers because I'm a reader. That's how I got into writing.

Which was what love was: unmotivated respect.

...the change was adjustment without improvement.

I can't explain inspiration. A writer is either compelled to write or not. And if I waited for inspiration I wouldn't really be a writer.

If happiness is anticipation with certainty, we were happy.

You need a whole community to raise a child. I have raised two children, alone.