“None of my own experiences ever finds its way into my work. However, the stages of my life -- motherhood, middle age, etc. -- often influence my subject matter.”
“I remember leaving the hospital - thinking, 'Wait, are they going to let me just walk off with him? I don't know beans about babies! I don't have a license to do this.' [We're] just amateurs.”
“Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!”
“I've always thought a hotel ought to offer optional small animals. I mean a cat to sleep on your bed at night, or a dog of some kind to act pleased when you come in. You ever notice how a hotel room feels so lifeless?”
“II would advise any beginning writer to write the first drafts as if no one else will ever read them -- without a though about publication -- and only in the last draft to consider how the work will look from the outside.”