Are you in pain?′ I asked, because I know that everything in the world that matters shows up as some kind of pain. Or pang. Joy included.

There’s nothing essentially romantic about things like roses or jewelry. Romance starts as some blank concept, and then you just fill it in with objects so you have something to point to when you want to make it real.

I’ve always believed that if you’re truly in love with someone, you shouldn’t be able to answer the question ‘What do you love about him?’ with any kind of real satisfaction.

One of the many advantages of being a loner is that often there’s time to think, ponder, brood, meditate deeply, and figure things out to one’s satisfaction.

The first time I ever heard professional actors delivering lines that I wrote was completely surreal and was just a gigantic moment in my life. It was just a little bit mind-blowing and completely strange to have something that had been on my computer being said out loud.

I do not believe that I will ever write an adult novel from an animal's point of view unless someday it becomes suddenly appealing to me to make a narrator a mentally ill pet. Never say never.

I'd go to the library so I could sit in a big, quiet room and listen to pages being turned. There was a boring librarian who everyone in fifth grade hated. But I loved her because when she would read us stories in her soft voice, she'd turn my head into a snow globe.

I can be like that: forgetting how hard it was to do something after I'm past it.

Because teenagers don't have adult responsibilities yet, you can create your own drama, and it's a universe of your own emotions.

If there is one thing for which the 'Real Housewives' franchise deserves artistic recognition, it is the patient and immaculate building of a villain.