I had written about a small hamlet upstate, and had been called into a meeting about my story, which, as it turned out, had upset a lot of people.

Susan Rebecca White has a keen sense for how her characters talk and think. An impressive debut.

Of course I'd sometimes have characters from downstate living upstate, but it took a while for me to start writing about where I grew up.

When I teach, I try to assign writers from whom I can learn.

I'll write about California someday, I imagine, but I don't know when.

I think it's probably better to make a region your own, and then maybe you can go somewhere else, but a lot of great writers have stuck to one region.

I believe that we can access stories, and voices from those around us, more easily often than from our own imperfect memories.

I think narrators expect a high level of intimacy with their readers, and vice versa.

I tend to listen to my friends and family empathetically, and I try to help work through their problems from the inside. I try to adopt their thinking.

I think the voice can carry a story.

I'm always relearning things I thought I'd learned for good a while back.

Government can easily exist without laws, but law cannot exist without government.

Collision avoidance systems are the next big radio frequency (RF) toxin to hit the USA general population as they become standard safety equipment in most new cars.

I think work begets work.

A time comes, after years in the trenches, when the artist begins to fathom what his career has looked like so far and what it will look like if he continues as he's proceeded.

No matter where I was, my compass pointed west. I would always know what time it was in California.

Become the person who would attract the results you seek.

Actions have consequences.

Spina bifida affects every single aspect of your life, from your child's self-esteem to your ability to sleep at night.

It's a very weird thing to know where you want to be in life and all of a sudden to actually have taken some real steps is a very strange feeling. I've really done something that I'm proud of.

In listening mood she seemed to stand, The guardian Naiad of the strand.