Any of us who listen to the news or listen to stories our neighbors tell are accustomed to violence. We have to decide then to ignore the violence and create a gentler world in our fiction, or to heighten the violence through the use of point-of-view in order to explore it and gain some insight and understanding. Since I'm living with the violence and trouble in my brain, it's kind of a relief to write about it, to get it on paper, to put it in context, to find meaning in it.

I worked probably fewer jobs than most people, or fewer real soul-killing jobs than other people. I've been a typist, a typesetter, a keyliner, cappuccino-maker. I think I've been pretty lucky.

I loved writing for the school newspaper. I liked to report and interview people, but I really liked to write columns, funny columns.

The truth is I tried to write for years and I wasn't very good.

Eighty percent of all novels are bought by women, or so I've heard.

I enjoy shooting. Around where I live, it's something you do for entertainment once in a while, you go out and shoot targets.

As a writer, I can live somewhat independently, occupying nooks and crannies and finding meaning there. I can even live in my mind a good portion of most days.