Part of being a writer is knowing when what you write is really bad.

A map does not just chart, it unlocks and formulates meaning; it forms bridges between here and there, between disparate ideas that we did not know were previously connected.

I had trouble listening to adults who didn't really mean anything that they said; it was as if their language poured into my ears only to drain right out a little spigot in the back of my head.

One cannot spend one's entire life running into bathrooms when danger calls!

A novel is a tricky thing to map.

I would not know what to say to you, except this: there was never a map that got it all right, and truth and beauty were never married to one another for long.

A text is evolutionary by its very nature.

Writing a novel is always complicated, it's not like you snap your fingers and go, 'Ah, I know what I'll write'. For me, a lot of the time, I have to write and as I write, I learn about the story.

Society was the only threat to the sanctity of selfhood: an unpatroned library was an orderly library.

Adults were pack rats of old, useless emotions.

The most fundamental problem is not that we don’t have a system to run but those with knowledge are cynically manipulating the system for petty personal desires.

In times of trouble, be strong. And wait patiently for God to rescue you.

Increasingly, people feel as though they must have a reason for taking time alone, a reason not to be available.

My father and my mother separated when I was two.

The most uncommon form of intelligence is common sense.

Hurry, drive and bustle ... Everybody looking out for number one, and caring little who jostled past, if their rights were not infringed.

As a columnist, I realize that whatever amount of corruption I expose, half my readers will block it out, although they may get a frisson of joy in the process.

This is a test. It is only a test. Had it been an actual job, you would have received raises, promotions, and other signs of appreciation.

I love dudes who are about winning and that is Kobe Bryant !

My family is my biggest inspiration. My son, my husband, and my family inspire me to be better, do better, and live better.