My father would often work all night and sleep during the day, so for us, dinner might be pancakes, and breakfast might be beef stroganoff.

I collect things that just look retarded.

I had this whole ritual with my mother making the bed with me inside it so I would be invisible.

The way this whole novel thing came together was, I sold them one bill of goods and then didn't communicate very well. I am like Captain Run-on Sentence.

When we had to do book reports, I would pick a book that no one read and just make it up and turn that in. I got praised for my imagination.

I've always wanted to have a book published - it was a dream of mine, but the thought of actually writing a book made me feel really sick.

I would ask my parents something, but then go to my siblings. We were encouraged to bounce ideas off everyone.

I think what my father appreciated was the science experiment of life. He had these kids, and they had their own experiences. He wanted us to discover the world for ourselves.

I didn't read at all until I was 12. I just couldn't. It was too frustrating.

At 12 I dropped out of school but I had lost interest in it at a much earlier age. For me, school was very very stressful.

I definitely have managed to overcome dyslexia now to become a fully functional human being but things were a lot more difficult when I was younger.

My soul is in the sky.

Real wealth is not the weight of coins

In Southern California along the coast, if the only thing you can do with the land is agriculture, it would be substantially less (in value) than property that has almost any other allowable use.

To make my brothers and my sister laugh was the greatest joy to me in my life. I like people who can make fun of themselves a lot.

And eat lots of mints, it fools the cops.

Immigrant children are highly vulnerable. Their level of disadvantage and fragility has consistently grown due to factors outside their control.

For me, books have been a life-long resource-to learning, laughter, solace, excitement, inspiration. At your library, the world awaits you, free for the asking.

Fire is a good companion for the mind.

Basketball is always a piece of my life, but never the centerpiece.

We won't allow the people to be devoured by YouTube, Facebook or others.