At one level you're condemned to the voice you have. But within those confines, you have a certain amount of freedom to range among your possible voices.

I grew up in Seattle, but I always knew I wanted to leave.

Writers shouldn’t underestimate the difficulty of what they’re doing, and they should treat it with great seriousness. You’re doing something that really matters, you’re telling stories that have an impact on other people and on the culture. You should tell the best stories you can possibly tell and put everything you’ve got into it.

Cities produce in me melancholy or a tension I don't need.

There are things in this universe that we cannot control, and then there are the things we can. . . . Let fate, coincidence, and accident conspire; human beings must act on reason.

It's a brooding melancholy that haunts me.

I'm interested in themes that endure from generation to generation.