I have had, like most women, a lifelong preoccupation with my weight. My first published short story was a love story between an elderly man and a very young morbidity obese woman.

We're seeing a decline in religion in North America but, I hope, a rise in individual spirituality. Whatever that means to people.

Winning the lottery is winning the lottery. It's highly unlikely and very unusual.

Aunt Lovey used to tell me that if I wanted to be a writer, I needed a writer's voice. 'Read,' she'd say, 'and if you have a writer's voice, one day it will shout out, 'I can do that too!

What is it about sadness that can be so fulfilling?

I'm not alone in having obese people in my circle and in my family. I have loved morbidly obese people, and I don't approach obesity with revulsion or judgment but with empathy and compassion.

Evidence tells that black and Latina woman are more accepting of curves, and that's a good thing.

Because I live in California now, I find my musings really being centered in this world.

When I grew up, all of our news, weather, and sports came from America. The people where I grew up rooted for American teams as opposed to Canadian teams.

I hum some secret place into being, thinking of this other me, the one that only I can see, a girl called She, who is not We, a girl who I will never be.

The city, no matter how small, is corrupt and unrepentant, while the sun shines brighter in the country, making people more wholesome.

The drugstore is a wonderful place to see all manner of ailments.

When we talk about God, I think what most of us mean is some greater thing, some higher power that can help us access our own strength or give us strength.

When you stand outside, you look around and find that the people you're with live on the fringes.

I feel, holding books, accommodating their weight and breathing their dust, an abiding love. I trust them, in a way that I can't trust my computer, though I couldn't do without it. Books are matter. My books matter. What would I have done through these years without the library and all its lovely books?