The arena of women's lives is somewhat more intimate. If a woman goes out with an incredibly attractive man and they break up, that woman is not more attractive to men. It's completely irrelevant to them. That's an example of the way women's minds work.

- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki had dreaded having girls: she knew she wouldn't be able to protect them from self-disgust.

She hopes for nothing except fine weather and a resolution. She wants to end properly, like a good sentence.

I like books that don't give you an easy ride. I like the feeling of discomfort. The sense of being implicated.

It's a funny thing about rap, that when you say 'I' into the microphone, it's like a public confession. It's very strange.

Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you.

The secret to editing your work is simple: you need to become its reader instead of its writer.