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.

There are certain moments where artwork might seem like it's part of someone's career - if you really know the art world - , but I did my best to prevent that overlap.

My strength is character. I'm pretty good at building walking-talking humans with brains like beehives.

The death drive is parasitic. It runs off of other drives, leeching off of them.

It is a little out of touch to presume that someone wants to follow your every observation and insight over the course of hundreds of pages without any sort of payoff. That's why writing isn't a one-way street. You have to give something back: an interesting plot, a surprise, a laugh, a moment of tenderness, a mystery for the reader to piece together.

I was never afraid on stage. That's where I was the least afraid. I could just do what I do and I had the amplification and the lights.

There's something about fear and aesthetic that go hand in hand.