I like a lot of Margaret Atwood, I like much of Alice Munro. Again, if you were to ask me about male writers, there's often a novel I admire, but not all of their works.

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

Nobody can assume that, to a writer, everything is off-limits.

It's not about having things figured out, or about communicating with other people, trying to make them understand what you understand. It's about a chicken dinner at a drive-in. A soft pillow. Things that don't need explaining.

You put a character out there and you're in their power. You're in trouble if they're in yours.

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.

I must say also that it's never worked to my disadvantage that I have long, blond hair.