You don't feel like smiling? Then what? Force yourself to smile. Act as if you were already happy, and that will tend to make you happy.

When you mention to people growing up in Cleveland they bring up the river catching on fire, or LeBron James leaving, they have these references, but no one imagines ending up there.

I am very active on Twitter and one thing that keeps popping up is How do I balance having a kid and writing? And I know it should not be as aggravating, but I know no one ever asks a male writer that. Or, any male that.

If a news camera shows up, people will line up, they want to be seen. But at the same time they want both to be chosen and not singled out. I think that is an endless struggle within most.

The people are maybe still as aware of the differences but they are more accepting of it that what we saw in the 70s and 80s, but the undercurrent is still there. There are maybe no racial slurs anymore, no firecrackers in mailboxes, the distinction is much more subtle.

Being asked, Where are you REALLY from? It makes one feel OTHERED.

If you told people you were moving to Ohio, they wouldn't congratulate you. They'd say OH WHY would you move there? as if that was something that happened to you and you had to deal with.

They never discussed it, but both came to understand it as a promise: he would always make sure there was a place for her. She would always be able to say, Someone is coming. I am not alone.

There is something about Midwest in general, that has kind of an underdog quality.