The States has more publishers and a wider range of aesthetics but so much more competition - the amount of writers vying for the same spot as you is staggering. I think they're different challenges, but equally frustrating when you're trying to get your foot in the door.

I usually tame my off-kilter sense of humor for novels.

I don't know if I have a book in me, but I'm sure I have more essays.

I miss smoking (two to four packs a day) but I don't miss the crackle in my lungs when I breathed.

Once your writing is out there, you can't control how other people perceive it. All you can do is stand in your truth.

If I gave up writing, I'd have to find an equally obsessive way to fill my time. Yarn-bombing skyscrapers or making houses out of empty soda bottles.

We have good people. We have selfless people. We have great leaders.