Days and nights have changed my face. And I have buried my mother on a cold day in May when yellow-throated violets hid in the green, green grass. And wandering about I have placed my favorite faces in crowds that could not hold them, and only to suffer the disappointment.

I have no idea whether anyone will have any desire to read it. Will people who don't know me at all grab the book off the shelf to read it? That would be lovely, but I didn't think about the audience when I was writing. You're building the book for yourself, and it becomes your companion. If people hate it, then that's great ? at least they have an opinion about it.

I have no idea whether anyone will have any desire to read it.

How would you feel if you didn't know where your mother was for one day? Imagine 4 1/2 months.

All I can remember is sitting on the bench in a cold rain. All year long. Every day, it was raining. It just didn't work out.

It would be great, even if was only for a day, to be in the national spotlight. I knew when I came here that I wouldn't have that opportunity. But hopefully, these kids by their senior year, will get to do that.