Anyone with an imagination can write about the day-to-day experiences of someone he or she is not.

You have to write fiction that mirrors the actual world, which has people of all sorts in it.

This is true in other fields, too, that a legal aid lawyer gets a whole lot less money than a Hollywood lawyer who handles the estates of celebrities. Maybe the legal aid lawyer is doing something better, though, and maybe they're happier. It's not a completely unheard of idea, but I do think we have to remind ourselves at times to look for satisfaction in other ways.

I don't really like to tell people to get out drugs.

The main thing is to explain to yourself that everybody suffers.

I get to a certain point, and I think in a novel it's about the third draft, when I want other eyes on it.

I love to read nonfiction and memoir, but I'm mostly interested in the piece of writing more than the person.