The writer has to be brave, I think.

The writer has to take risks and go somewhere full of mystery and possibility for the novel to deepen over the years it takes to write it.

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 don't feel sentimental about the past, but I can't help noticing how hard it has become to keep a grip on anything. Maybe it's the totalizing impact of corporate culture, maybe it's the atomizing impact of technology.

Even a documentary portrait of a person that tries to be very accurate is shaped by the filmmaker in so many ways.

I like the challenge of creating a world with only sentences.

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