I really believe there is something in the nature of a democracy that naturally leads people to distrust the government, to assume because a democracy is built by people just like themselves that there must be secret plots and cover-ups and wizards behind the scenes running the machine.

My dad liked more macho adventure books like Shogun or spy novels. My mother reads murder mysteries. In fact, so does her mother, my grandma. That's where I trace the familial line of murder mystery obsession.

You find when you're writing a detective story that you're actually not trying to solve anything. You're trying to stop the reader from solving the puzzle.

Safety, reputation, their lives, their friends, and their world. Writers typically try to avoid that because it's not expedient.

I have always wanted to be either a cinematographer or a veterinarian.

I feel that I'm solid at description.

I'm really much better at asking questions than answering them, since asking questions is like a constant deflection of oneself.