Enemies strengthn you. Allies weaken you.
I like to work around identification for the audience, and when there's a grown-up or a moral figure or something like that, people tend to go there.
Obviously, I can't tell the story of what it is to be a black girl, but maybe I can tell something else. Girlhood is not about what it's like to be a black girl, it's about what it's like to be a girl.
I intentionally leave adults out in my stories, not to say that they're not in charge or that they don't care, or that they're failing at what they do. Not at all. It's two things: It's a way to be true to what adolescence feels like, because, okay, your parents may be around, but you still don't want them to be around. What you go through, you go through alone, I think.
Being in a group is a way to actually to speak up, and define yourself in the comfort, and the complexity of the group.
I want to try different genres. I think I'll still be looking at a strong female character in the center, and identity struggle and transformation.
I like the idea of a trilogy. It's cool. I like the word. When you do four, the word isn't cool - not as cool.
The constancy of the wise is only the talent of concealing the agitation of their hearts.
I'm always excited by the unlikely, never by ordinary things.
Work is work, but family is for life. That's what really matters to me.
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.