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Maxims

There are certain defects which well mounted glitter like virtue itself.

Mentor

Only one constant existed: I wrote. Writing was my center of gravity.

Mentors in General, Peter Taylor in Particular

Mentors can suggest to you what more you are capable of.

Musings

Heaven preserve me from the Epidemic of a Proud Ignorance!

My First Book: “Treasure Island”

The future of the book began to appear among imaginary woods.

Narrative 10

Favorite character? What a question. It’s like choosing a favorite child.

Narrative 10

Love is the difference between a full life and an empty one.

Narrative 10

This is kind of a big, wet valentine, isn’t it? Shouldn’t you throw it out?

Narrative 10

I usually get my best writing done at night or at the close of day.

Narrative 10

Don’t write what you know. Write what you can imagine.

Narrative 10

I once heard in a sermon, “Choose the important over the urgent.”

Narrative 10

I’m obsessed with finding a convertible that has enough room.

Narrative 10

Love enlarges. What you put out into the world, you get back tenfold.

Narrative 10

I’ve found that love has provided my life’s happiest moments.

Narrative 10

A friend of my father’s once told me, “You’ll never be a writer.”

Narrative 10

Love is not something you wait for passively, but a practice.

Narrative 10

I know now not to measure my insides against others’ outsides.

Narrative 10

“Nobody asked you to write.” Over time, I realized it was a magic key.

Narrative 10

The Great Gatsby had an awful, detrimental effect on me.

Narrative 10

One of my stories was rejected by a journal as “theatrical and self-limiting.”

Narrative 10

I’ve read this novel at various stages of my life and I feel as if I know Isabel.

Narrative 10

Art doesn’t conform to a capitalist’s ratio of productivity to time.

Narrative 10

My grandmother read one of my early stories and warned—don’t force your muse.

Narrative 10

In real life, my favorite character, so to speak, is Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Narrative 10

I love talking to girls. That’s why I’ve written so much about them.

Narrative 10

I don’t own a smartphone and never will. I’ve never sent a text.

Narrative 10

I’m a big fan of then. A novel needs a lot of thens.

Narrative 10

“The Sentry” taught me that all true laughter has tears behind it.

Narrative 10

The story of racism does not simply happen to people of color.

Narrative 10

I wish I could tell her that we aren’t supposed to know why we’re here.