Most National Correspondents Will Tell You They

I Have Dictated Stories From An Airport After Writing The Story Out In Longhand On The Plane That I Got From Phone Interviews And Then Was Applauded By Editors For 'working Magic.

People Who Think There Is Something Pedestrian About Journalism Are Just Ignorant.

I Began Reading Harper Lee's Novel In The Skimpy Shade Of A Pine Outside My Grandmother's House, Fat Beagles Pressing Against Me, Begging For Attention, Ignored. At Dark, I Kept Reading, First On The Couch, A Bologna Sandwich In One Hand, Then In My Bed, By The Light Of A 60-watt Bulb Hanging From The Ceiling On An Orange Drop Cord. When My Mother Came In From Her Job As A Maid And Unplugged My Chandelier, I Replayed The Story In My Head Until It Was Crowded Out By Dreams. I Woke The Next Morning, Smelling Biscuits, And Reached For The Book Again.

There Are These Boutique Writers Out There Who Think If They Are Not Writing Their Novels Sitting At A Bistro With Their Laptops, Then They're Not Real Writers. That's Ridiculous.

The Only Thing Poverty Does Is Grind Down Your Nerve Endings To A Point That You Can Work Harder And Stoop Lower Than Most People Are Willing To. It Chips Away A Person's Dreams To The Point That The Hopelessness Shows Through, And The Dreamer Accepts That Hard Work And Borrowed Houses Are All This Life Will Ever Be.