Nobody had books at home. My dad was a very educated person, so he would have books at home. All Spanish books. That helped. Most of my homies had no books at home.

When you win, we win; but when you go down, you go down alone.

Nobody supported me; my family thought I had gone crazy. They thought, you crazy gangster, you crazy drug addict, now you want to be a writer? That's it! They totally gave up on me after that.

The more you know, the more you owe.

I'm not really anti-gang - I was a gang member and so was my son. I'm pro-youth, pro-community, pro-family, pro-arts, and pro-peace.

There are choices you have to make not just once

Eventually I went back to high school. I went to a coaching center in my neighborhood. I had to leave the homeless situation because it was so bad and I knew that I was falling deeper and deeper.

I've always been prepared to write about the hard things. Only for healing, teaching, and enlightening purposes not to hurt or disparage anyone.

In order to stay out of trouble I worked in industry. You can't even do that nowadays; there were all those factories.

I was kind of a weird homie; I was a weird kid. Nobody in my family loved books. I'm the only one.

Eating is not a crime. It’s not a moral issue. It’s normal. It’s enjoyable. It just is.

Write about only three things: what you love, what you hate, and what you’re deeply conflicted about.

She smiled and whispered, "I'm kissing you right now." He swore softly, frustration evident in the snap of his voice. "I'm kissing you too." With that she had to be content enough to walk away.

He who rules by moral force is like the pole star, which remains in place while all the lesser stars do homage to it.

To advertisers: "Do not compete with your agency in the creative area. Why keep a dog and bark yourself?"

I'm trying to be confrontational and direct. If I lack directness then I only have myself to blame because I lack the skills to make my point clear.

I keep a creative group around me.

Surprises and reverses can serve as an incentive for great accomplishment. There are no rules here, we're just trying to accomplish something.

Follow our hearts. Live our dreams. Tell the truth.