There is something very romantic about the orphan figure in American literature.

We lost so many talented artists and writers from the generations before ours that we're really lacking older figureheads.

It's just as political, what you do in the bedroom is just as political as what you do in public.

There's a structure to a detective story that I can easily understand. I understand playing that particular game. It's like solving a puzzle. Or creating a puzzle.

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

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.

Every time I try to write on vacation, I fail miserably.