But I've been at writing long enough now to know that every three or four books I have to start a new direction.

I said shut up once already, with my mouth.

Ree, brunette and sixteen, with milk skin and abrupt green eyes, stood bare-armed in a fluttering yellowed dress, face to the wind, her cheeks reddening as if smacked and smacked again.

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

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.

Long, dark, and lovely she had been, in those days before her mind broke and the parts scattered and she let them go.

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