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

I didn't really expect to be coming to the Oscars.

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

Gail had a baby named Ned who was four months old, and a new look of baffled hurt, a left-behind sadness, like she saw that the great world kept spinning onward and away while she'd overnight become glued to her spot.

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

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

It's not always to the benefit of the story to have it so preordained.