Inevitably we start by thinking that if our work is any good, we'll get money. It's as we would if you started up a business or if you work in another profession.

Inevitably we start by thinking that if our work is any good, we'll get money. It's as we would if you started up a business or if you work in another profession.

There seems to be a tremendous desire among many people now to know authors and how they work, to know what's autobiographical and what isn't.

Truly things are better in general now, in America, than in the past.

I've been astonished how often, when I convince a writer to tell a story more straightforwardly and to tell it more simply and directly, it turns out that this author is great and the story is wonderful.

I don't have the courage not to write all the time.

Being part of a community of writers is huge. I really think that's why people go to MFA programs.