Two or three things I know for sure, and one of them is that if we are not beautiful to each other, we cannot know beauty in any form.

Independent presses and bookstores give access to literature specific to a place. Readers can find stories they need.

When I saw him speak here before, I could look into the audience and see people who look like him laughing at things I didn't know the references to. There is an intimacy between Chicago writers and the population of this city that I find really wonderful. It's warm and it's welcoming. It's a little like going to a Baptist church. They know when to say 'Amen'.

I tell my students you have an absolute right to write about people you know and love. You do. But the kicker is you have a responsibility to make the characters large enough that you will not have sinned against them.

I think I would have died if there hadn't been the women's movement.

When I was growing up, I always read horror books, while my sister read romance novels.