The movie is more real in so many ways than the life I am leading. No, that’s not true. I just desperately wish this was only a movie.

The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help.

Each of us is born with a history already in place

If what I read doesn't reflect my life - whether I'm gay or Latino or on welfare - doesn't that really mean that my life is not valuable?

Sometimes when things get hard, we tend to set our sights on what's hard, that difficult thing that keeps us upset, and we turn our back on our strengths.

As a writer, I absorb stories, allow them to churn within my own head and heart - often for years - until I find a way of telling them that fits both my time and temperament.

Cutting people out of your life is easy, keeping them in is hard.