For a long time, I thought you could remain isolated and survive, and I didn't want to change that. But over the last three or four books, I've become more comfortable with the idea that I'm not really throwing anything away by being a bit more open about my books and life.

I'm not one of these people who thinks everyone born into privilege should wear sack cloth and ashes. But it's something I wrestle with. I know a lot of people who live below the poverty level and have for a long time and it makes them uneasy to think they'll have to interact with people from different economic levels. Everyone has some sort of load put on them, whatever the circumstances they're born into.

I felt like a number of things in me as a writer just clicked.

The heart's in it then, spinning dreams, and torment is on the way. The heart makes dreams seem like ideas.

There's an overlap between social-realist fiction and crime fiction - a sweet spot there.

The opening novel of the 'Bayou Trilogy' was the first one I finished.

I've bumped into at least three people in town who all insist 'Winter's Bone' is about them.