PhD, MFA, self-taught - the only things you must have to become a writer are the stamina to continue and a wily, cagey heart in the face of extremity, failure, and success.

Everyone would tell me they couldn't identify with sexual abuse. No one says they can't identify with the tales of the Greek gods and goddesses because they don't live on Mt. Olympus.

I've been told it's hard to write about singing. I didn't realize that going into it. I might not have tried if I knew!

With my family background - my parents were both activists - writing about culture and politics came naturally.

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.

As I get ready to buy a new computer, I'm stunned at all the many micro drafts, of different chapters and scenes and whatnot, that litter the hard drive.

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.