I like to be surprised. The best writing is when it defies me, when it starts going a different way than I had planned.

If you want your prayers answered, get up off your knees and do something about them.

A woman who surrenders her freedom need not surrender her dignity.

I walked over and looked closer at the statue of the goddess. She was wearing a headdress with a skull and a cobra and a crescent moon. Maybe this is what peace of mind was all about: having a poisonous snake on your head and smiling anyway.

But I think this: that whatever prices I've paid, whatever sorrows I shoulder, well, I have blessings, too. Not just my family now, but the others-the ones who have died...They're with me still. They're here...

People waste their happiness - that's what makes me sad. Everyone's so scared to be happy.

I write to find out what the story means to me, that is what I try to do especially with the first draft.