Susan Straight finds LA's secret heart in Between Heaven and Here and with a sleight of hand only the masters have, she creates an alley, a neighborhood, a history that is as rich and tragic as any Shakespearean tale.

My father cared about the world he lived in, and so he admitted his confusion about his place in America because he didn't want me to make the same mistake in my life.

I like to read either in motion or in water... I am happiest reading in the bathtub.

I'm just a survivor from the train wreck of the modern world.

Better to listen to the gospel than to a mortal leader.

The life most of us live are lives we are forced to live by immediate needs, influences, and pressures.

The first thing you have to know about writing is that it is something you must do every day - every morning or every night, whatever time it is that you have. Ideally, the time you decide on is also the time when you do your best work.