My mother's proud of where she's from, and her history, and her past, and same with my dad. I have roots in Africa. Like, I am from Africa as well as from Germany, and I am very proud of that.

I've loved Michael Jackson since the minute I was born. He's probably the most talented person ever. He was able to create such an amazing career and be probably the biggest star we've ever had.

What hasn't Barbie been? I don't think I can create an occupation that she has not done yet.

I hate when books are written from the wrong perspective; when they're written by adults for tweenagers. Like, do you truly remember what it's like to be 12? No, not really.

It didn't matter how good I was. It was always, 'You're a girl. You can't play with the guys.' It's always been motivation for me.

Whatever I might have imagined a terminal diagnosis would do to my spirit, it summoned quite the opposite - the greatest appreciation for life itself. So I will never give up, and I will never give in.

Every time I get an injury or suffer from a personal setback, that's exactly what I do: I persevere.

The effort to create a work of art that is true and potentially lasting, that is the very best work of art you can create at that point in your life - a book that may only reach or move a few people but will seem to those people somehow transformative. That's the ideal; that's always the motivation.