Time is never wasted coming to an old man bar.

I wasn't writing stories with the intention of creating a particular collection. I simply wrote stories, and then discovered common themes among a good number of them.

I read stories aloud at every stage. I listen to my writer friends when they kindly offer criticism. I listen to my husband when he tells me something doesn't seem right. I have my mother's boyfriend, Loring Janes, read to make sure I get everything right with the machines and guns.

Being five-foot-ten at fourteen years old was a little bit scary.

I love writing about men. To get by in the world you have to know how men think. Not that all guys think alike, but women tend to think about more things at the same time, an overgeneralization, but I find it easier to make my male characters focus than I do my female characters.

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

I think back when I was kind of a crappy writer, I really did know my time was better spent working and having adventures and seeing the world.