My teaching forces me to articulate what I think works in a piece of fiction and how I think it works. All of that gives me energy as a writer.

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 like the challenge of creating a world with only sentences.

The writer has to be brave, I think.

I do want to write about social/cultural/historical context. I'm interested in relationships, in character, but within a specific social context. Which is kind of a political thing, I admit that. But it's what I'm interested in, and it's how I believe human behavior is legible.

I am a great procrastinator. When the writing is going really well, the laundry piles up.

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