“Don't worry about how pretty (the story) sounds, how lilting it is, and the imagery, and the metaphor, all that. Most readers don't care. It's the people in your book that matter.”

“Men cheat. They lie. They love porn. The don't respect you and don't care if they hurt you. It's the fucking breaks. Women divorce 'em 'cause we can't tame 'em or train 'em or control 'em like we do household pets. End of story.”

“I don't care if he never becomes my boyfriend or my husband, i just want him to be legitimate.”

“don't sabotage your own greatness by succumbing to failure!”

“I like to think of what happens to characters in good novels and stories as knots--things keep knotting up. And by the end of the story--readers see an unknotting of sorts. Not what you expect, not the easy answers you get on TV, not wash and wear philosophies, but a reproduction of believable, emotional experiences.”

“You've been killing me inside and I don't want to die like this.”

“Look, as my mama always said, 'One monkey don't stop no show.”