I think most writers have to have a practice of writing. For me it is very early in the morning. I try to make it a separate world from the rest of my life.

I think it's harder than ever to be an artist. I think that you end up, especially as a middle-aged person, you pay such big consequences for saying, 'I'm just going to devote my life to making art,' or 'I'm going to devote my life to writing novels.' You end up with no resources.

I think there's a lot to be learned from pop culture. But at the same time I see the dangers of using it in an exclusive way to construct meaning in your life.

I try to write about how we live today, how we use language, technology, our bodies.

My teaching exists in a different part of my brain. However, I am lucky enough to teach very smart graduate students.

It takes a long time to write a novel when you have to keep interrupting your work to earn money.

The writer has to be brave, I think.