The Dancing Girls of Lahore was offered to dozens of British publishers and was turned down by everyone. It is still on offer in the U.K., but I'm not confident there will be any takers.

The young women in my classes are feisty and clever and believe, often with the passion of youthful optimism, that feminism is a battle already won. I worry for them - and for my daughters, too.

I'm working on a nonfiction book on Nepal and a novel about diasporas.

The richest most meaningful stories are found in small places: made, carried, crafted, told, and retold by apparently unimportant people.

Sometimes I like to play the soundtracks to famous musicals so we can all sing along. South Pacific is one of my favorites. Our neighbors must hate us.

If you can't return a favor, pass it on.

Never give up. And most importantly, be true to yourself. Write from your heart, in your own voice, and about what you believe in.

I can't pick out one single book that had such a profound personal impact.

It took a brave editor in the U.S. to sign a contract for Dancing Girls, and without her belief in the book, I'm not sure it would ever have found its way into print.

Don't call 'em dogs. Dogs are loyal and they run after balls.

I could write an entertaining novel about rejection slips, but I fear it would be overly long.

The identification of fantasy is always an attempt to avoid one's own suffering: the identification of art is the sharing in the suffering of another.

They can't give you all that, Mr Jimson, ' said Walter, who was upset. 'It wouldn't be right. What would they give you seven years for?''Being Gulley Jimson, ' I said, 'and getting away with it.

I'm a polyatheist - there are many gods I don't believe in.

I've developed several serious policy proposals to create jobs, reform Washington and reduce spending.

There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win.

Thanking people is dangerous business. A name always slips your mind.

Learn about writing from reading. That is the right way to do it.

Boy, do I got some stories to tell.

I just got this new camera. It's very advanced - you don't even need it.

The history of discovery is full of creative serendipity.