My weak suit is whatever each reader hates about each book.

I love the idea of biracial. I actually don't use the word biracial. I tend to use mixed. Biracial to me accentuates the word race, and, you know, I don't really care for it.

The sociopaths - that's the real problem. The whole street demeanor is about pretending to be a sociopath as well so that the real ones can't find you.

Even drunk, I knew any escape plan that involved going to Detroit, Michigan, was a harbinger of doom.

It is a great moment in every freak's life when he or she finds out that at least they are not the only one.

People aren't social. They're tribal. Race doesn't exist, but tribes are real.

For some reason, people always assign high cheekbones to some ethnicity, but apparently by their regards, everybody on earth has high cheekbones. So I don't know if that matters.

Everybody just gets on my nerves after like, 10 minutes, you know.

I'm really suspicious of anybody who comes in and says, this is your identity now, or this is your belief system, and now that you have this, everything's going to be great.

My strong suit is that I've been willing to risk on the page to get somewhere interesting.

I've been writing forever, 20 years.

Ah, kindness. What a simple way to tell another struggling soul that there is love to be found in the world.

O let us live in joy, in love among those who hate! Among men who hate, let us live in love.

It’s time someone said it, average living (read middle-class) is not good enough

Know, he that foretells his own calamity, and makes events before they come, twice over, doth endure the pains of evil destiny.

I was a waitress. I was pretty good at it. I liked to solve those puzzles-you know, when to put the dinner order in, that sort of thing.

be it peace or happiness let it enfold you

Fraud and deceit abound in these days more than in former times.

I knew it wasn't good when it happened. It's definitely scary. Every now and then, something brings you back to reality.

In order to do great things, you have to take on challenges in your life. Im doing nothing but taking on different challenges.

...there is power in self-sacrifice.