There was a boy in my building who was my best friend when I was growing up. There was also a mysterious person on my corner who we called the Laughing Man.

I think that's one of the most important things that books do: not to teach you anything, but to help you teach yourself by just being in the world of the book and having your own thoughts and reactions and noticing your own reactions and thoughts and learning about yourself that way.

I have nothing like a writing routine. I sometimes have trouble buckling down to write at home.

I think things hit me very hard, and I wish I had allowed things to roll off my back a little bit more.