Carmen Agra Deedy

If you tell stories you love, you will never tell them with indifference - take it to the bank.

Read, read, read. Read good books. You will strengthen your understanding of story. Your vocabulary will be the richer for it.

I began telling stories as a volunteer in my daughters' school. But I grew up hearing stories from Cuban and Southern storytellers, and I learned a great deal by just being quiet and listening.

I've always been very determined, ever since I was a little girl, to make my way.

It took me realizing that a broken heart has never actually killed anyone to find the courage to ask for what I want, in just about every situation. That was part of my own growing up.

It's good to like yourself, and that only comes from hard work, from doing. But vanity is dangerous; it can trip you badly.