I take the outline from a real person as inspiration, but the in-line is totally made up. Which is why I usually invent imaginary names.

I like to buy books for the kids in my family. I guess that's why they call me the 'mean' aunt.

I locate a great deal of the power of Occupy Wall Street in the name itself, 'Occupy Wall Street,' or '#OccupyWallStreet.' It works because the name contains everything you need to know: the tactic and the target. The name is also modular. You can create your own offshoot in your own city.

Most human things are full of conflict and ambivalence, not ease and simplicity. The world has grown increasingly fundamentalist, and the parameters of discussion have become narrowed. People, when they're fearful, are vulnerable to certainty in rhetoric.

All roads lead to Wall Street, but we feel the effects of Wall Street on every street corner. Certainly in Syracuse, N.Y., where I live.

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

That was one of the reasons I became a writer - I never really had that many friends. I would read a lot, and listen to music. And that was my life.