I consciously try to end my novels at a point where I won't have to wonder about my characters ever again.

Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!

I read so I can live more than one life in more than one place.

But what I hope for from a book - either one that I write or one that I read - is transparency. I want the story to shine through. I don't want to think of the writer.

It seems to me that since I've had children, I've grown richer and deeper. They may have slowed down my writing for a while, but when I did write, I had more of a self to speak from.

It is not how much you love someone, but who you are when you are with him.

The Amateur Marriage grew out of the reflection that of all the opportunities to show differences in character, surely an unhappy marriage must be the richest.

It is very difficult to live among people you love and hold back from offering them advice.

Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.

People always call it luck when you've acted more sensibly than they have.

The hardest novel to write was Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant.

Most people forget that Wisdom can't thrive where there's no "Respect

Smile at a friend, at a stranger, at an enemy, at life’s absurdities and the universe will smile back at you.

I was no good at being a child.

You've got to play with that killer instinct, man. You've got to hate that guy across from you. Then after the game is over, tell him what a nice guy he is. Shake his hand. Especially if you win.

Latina women are proud to be called Mrs. That simply means that we have a family.

Its pretty rare for companies to have a snooping policy, although it is getting more common.

Without form, the sensitiveness vanishes.

Big doesn't necessarily mean better. Sunflowers aren't better than violets.

The unsuccessful bully can always become the father of a family.

It's a wrong idea that a master is a finished person. Masters are very faulty; they haven't learned everything and they know it.