I wish I could write while I'm on the road but it never works for me. I need to be sitting still.

What's the point of having a book club if you don't get to eat brownies and drink wine?

In the wintertime I like macaroni and cheese.

An ellipsis is a giant ocean of possibilities.

I find that short stories are almost like palate cleansers, or brain cleansers.

You can quit smoking, and never have to have a cigarette again to survive. But with food, it is a daily challenge.

I love doing readings. I could really give a crap about reviews. It's kind of about the readers.

I remember being banned from other houses as a younger child during the winter holiday season; I was the only one who didn't believe in Santa Claus, and I was ruining everyone's Christmas.

I just think structure can make a book feel so much bigger. It's the architecture. You could use flimsy materials if you wanted to, even, but it could still feel big.

In 1998, I started a blog, something I could control very easily and update at my own whim.

I'm not that much of a researcher. I'm good at channeling characters, and I'm good at structure.

Autocorrect: making Twitter pedants delete and re-tweet since 2007.

When 'happiness' eludes us - as, eventually, it always will - we have the invitation to examine our programmed responses and to exercise our power to choose again.

Violent anger makes me physically ill.

Man, surrounded by facts, permitting himself no surprise, no intuitive flash, no great hypothesis, no risk, is in a locked cell. Ignorance cannot seal the mind and imagination more securely.

You're never too young to die.

Failure to critique US empire allows feminist projects to be used and mobilized as handmaidens in the imperial project.

Burning fat efficiently boils down to one thing - building more muscle!

Hip-hop is a competition culture. It's based around, "My DJ is better than you. My graffiti artist is better than you."

If people perceive themselves as having very little opportunities to be fulfilled, then it cheapens their life and outlook. The solution is to reverse it; make sure they know opportunities abound.

Public money ought to be touched with the most scrupulous consciousness of honor.