At The Risk Of Appearing Disingenuous, I

If My Career Continues Along Its Current Arc, People Will Probably Look At Me And See A Writer Who Is Obsessed With The Relationship Between Rich And Poor And With How The Rich Somehow Or Other Always Manage To Betray The Poor, Even When They Don't Mean To.

People Often Ask Me How I Make Things Funny. I Don't Make Things Funny.

There Are A Great Many Sins In This World, None Of Them Original.

Since Her Retirement From Teaching Miss Beryl's Health Had In Many Respects Greatly Improved, Despite Her Advancing Years. An Eighth-grade Classroom Was An Excellent Place To Snag Whatever Was In The Air In The Way Of Illness. Also Depression, Which, Miss Beryl Believed, In Conjunction With Guilt, Opened The Door To Illness. Miss Beryl Didn't Know Any Teachers Who Weren't Habitually Guilty And Depressed-guilty They Hadn't Accomplished More With Their Students, Depressed That Very Little More Was Possible.

To His Surprise, She Leaned Over And Kissed Him On The Forehead, A Kiss So Full Of Affection That It Dispelled The Awkwardness, Even As It Caused Miles' Heart To Plummet, Because All Kisses Are Calibrated, And This One Revealed The Great Chasm Between Affection And Love.