Shay sometimes talked in a mysterious way, like she was quoting the lyrics of some band no one else listened to.

What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful.

The lie took form as she spoke, pulling on as many strands of truth as it could reach.

Perhaps the logical conclusion of everyone looking the same is everyone thinking the same.

When she awoke, the world was on fire.

I spilled more times than a glass of milk on a roller coaster.

The Rusty Ruins were the remains of an old city, a hulking reminder of back when there'd been way too many people, and everyone was incredibly stupid. And ugly.

But you weren't born expecting that kind of beauty in everyone, all the time. You just got programmed into thinking anything else is ugly.

The very idea of making shoes by hand boggled her mind.

We're not freaks, Tally. We're normal. We may not be gorgeous, but at least we're not hyped-up Barbie dolls.

The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit. Of course, Tally thought, you’d have to feed your cat only salmon-flavored cat food for a while, to get the pinks right.

Knowledge was like candy: you never turned it down, especially if you didn't have to work too hard to get it.

Hire people you get along with, and then let them do what they do best.

An understanding is perhaps better than an alliance, which may stereotype arrangements which cannot be regarded as permanent in view of the changing circumstances from day to day.

Ice-T was just a pleasure to work with. He was a smart gentleman.

Oftentimes, when people don't respond to text messages or emails, I just start writing long, long in-depth essays and diatribes where characters start to appear and narrative threads begin.

Life gives no one immunity against adversity, but life gives to everyone the power of positive thought which is sufficient to master all circumstances of adversity and convert them into benefits.

Comes a Time when the blind man takes your hand says DON'T YOU SEE?

Now all my teachers are dead except silence.

I'm just a survivor from the train wreck of the modern world.

A lot of my work reflects the incredible influence that America has had on contemporary African culture. Some of it's insidious, some of it's innocuous, some of it's invisible. It's there.