I think Haiti is a place that suffers so much from neglect that people only want to hear about it when it’s at its extreme. And that’s what they end up knowing about it.

I don't know what will happen to the physical book and what it will mean for authors. I worry whether it will mean people can still make their careers this way. Will whatever comes next allow people to be able to own their ideas and be able to take time to develop them?

I'm happy to be part of this chorus of people who are trying to tell more complex stories about Haiti.

We try to keep the beautiful memories, but other things from the past creep up on us.

I'm just melancholy by nature, and a lot of that gets into my writing.

I remember reading an interview with a writer who said that in nonfiction if you have one lie it sort of messes it up. But in fiction the real details give you so much more credibility, because people do so much research just to write fiction. In fiction you're trying to recreate something lifelike.

Someone has said that nations have interests, they don't have friends, and you see that over and over in U.S. policy.