I always felt my writing could benefit from the attention of established writers. I knew my work could grow and be better.

Maybe if we can find time to hug and cherish our families and the people around us, child suicide or college suicide wouldn't be rampant.

I think fiction allows us to sit for a while with people we would rather not meet.

I'm happy if my book makes you want to kiss your family... if we can reconcile with each other no matter where we are on the globe.

I'd say my religious life has shaped my worldview; my writing, I'd say too, is an extension of the pulpit...it reaches folks who don't care for organized religion in a different way.

After the phone call from The New Yorker, I walked more than a mile to church to thank God. But then I told God I would talk to Him another time and darted home.

Have love for your inner Self and everything else is done for you.

Peace at home, peace in the world.

When you connect to a compelling cause you feel all your inner resources has been targeted to help you achieve your cause.

How can anyone love someone who is less than a full person, unless love itself is domination per se?

I feel more influenced in my own work by dreams than I do by other writers' works in a way. Or by popular culture, movies - what else is there to write about than love and loss?

Anybody can be heard. Anyone can express their truths. And communication is possible without the confines of the body.

I think a lot of people compare female writers or female comedians to each other in a way that men are not. Male comedy writers are not scrutinized.

If you lack technique you lose the freedom to create.

I always say African American history is the quintessential American story. It's about perseverance and resilience - something everyone can relate to.

I don't know how smart I am, but I was a student of the game and I still watch games and still pick up things. If you watch individual players you will see genius.