Americans are incredibly polite as long as they get what they want.

It took me 10 years to write a story that pleased me - that I could look at after it was published and not cringe.

Eruptions of talent continue to happen in Haiti, in spite of everything.

I quit law in 1988 to start writing, and it took me 17 years from that point to get a book contract. I guess you can say I was on the slow train.

The strange, wonderful stories of Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain introduce us to the tremendously gifted Kirsten Menger-Anderson, a writer whose subject is nothing less than the diagnosis and cure of the human malady. We follow twelve generations of New York City's Steenwycks family through their forays into phrenology, mesmerism, radium therapy and similar misadventures, a historically rich narrative that Menger-Anderson delivers in striking, elegant prose and with a sure eye for detail. This is a remarkable debut by a writer to watch.

Maybe the light's at the other end of the tunnel.

I think if you spend much time dwelling on influence you can get self-conscious about every line you write. That's a great way to freeze up.