One of my big inspirations was Céleste Mogador. She was a courtesan who wrote her memoirs in order to pay off her debts, which is a hilarious gesture.

Each source that I read, I would look through the bibliography and the footnotes, and use that as a map for the next thing I would read.

Whenever people say a coincidence in a novel is implausible, I think, Do I have a story for you.

I was trying to make a novel about something no one wanted to read about into something they couldn't put down or look away from.

As writer pay declined and teacher pay also, we all started hanging out online. You could say online social networks cheapen our friendships or you could say we were cheapened by a plutocratic power grab and this is all we can afford.

Writers aren't born, they're made - from practice, reading, and a lot of caffeine.

One of my big inspirations was Céleste Mogador. She was a courtesan who wrote her memoirs in order to pay off her debts, which is a hilarious gesture.