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

Writing became an obsessive compulsive habit but I had almost no money so I thought about being an urban firefighter and having lots of free time in which to write or becoming an English teacher and thinking about books and writers on a daily basis. That swayed me.

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.

What sustains me is to be with my family and to write.

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

He didn't like very many people any more, or very many things either. He preferred not to be this way, but there it was, he was like that. His cynicism, a veteran's cynicism, was a thing that disturbed him all the time.

When I went to college I took a creative writing class and decided in a week to be a writer.