It's often been said that I'm an extremely depressing, cynical writer. I've never known what to make of that.

I think almost always that what gets me going with a story is the atmosphere, the visual imagery, and then I people it with characters, not the other way around.

Women are obviously much more discriminated against than men in many ways.

It's often been said that I'm an extremely depressing, cynical writer. I've never known what to make of that.

You have to figure out who the right person is to tell the story. And often, people who are very self-aware will only sound as if they are pontificating if they tell the story.

I think I write about things that are mysterious to me.

Clouds are poems, and the most moving poems linger on the blackboard so long, written in cursive so lovely, they also exist inside our fingertips. We never really erase them at the end of the lesson.