“I see things, that's all. Write enough stories and every shadow on the floor looks like a footprint; every line in the dirt like a secret message.”

“My short stories are like soft shadows I have set out in the world, faint footprints I have left. I remember exactly where I set down each and every one of them, and how I felt when I did. Short stories are like guideposts to my heart...”

“I always tell my writing students that every good piece of writing begins with both a mystery and a love story. And that every single sentence must be a poem. And that economy is the key to all good writing. And that every character has to have a secret.”

“I might like to believe that every day, every hour, every minute of every hour of every day with Henry was *not* the happiest time I ever knew. I might like to believe that I am remembering it that way only because the happiest time ever makes it a better story. Because that's all you have left after people are gone from you, some things and some stories.”

“Every story I've written was written because I had to write it. Writing stories is like breathing for me; it is my life.”

“I like to see peoplereunited, maybe that's a silly thing, but what can I say, I like to see people run to eachother, I like the kissing and the crying, I like the impatience, the stories that the mouthcan't tell fast enough, the ears that aren't big enough, the eyes that can't take in all of thechange, I like the hugging, the bringing together, the end of missing someone”