"I think young writers should get other degrees first, social sciences, arts degrees or even business degrees. What you learn is research skills, a necessity because a lot of writing is about trying to find information."

"When I'm not writing, I read loads of fiction, but I've been writing quite constantly lately so I've been reading a lot of nonfiction - philosophy, religion, science, history, social or cultural studies."

"I spend so much time on the screen when I am writing, the last thing you want to do is spend more time on the Internet looking at a screen. That's what I hate about all this technology."

"I look at my people, and I look at those who control them - the political elite. And the sad thing is that the elites are just not interested in the welfare of the people."

"I am very sad for men and women trapped in any relationship where there is cruelty, dominance, inequity. I long for the liberation of all people."

"What happens when you have great grief in your life is the arteries of that heart begins to spasms down, just literally squeezes down like this because you're feeling the tension of your life and then the heart muscle itself will also begin - to get stressed out."

"We should feel sorrow, but not sink under its oppression."