I got hooked on TV westerns back in the early sixties when I was about five, mostly because my brother was addicted to them and wouldn't let me watch anything else.

I love Austin. It's great here. I don't mind the heat.

Angle of Repose is one of my favorite books. I fell in love with it in college. When I submitted The Night Journal to my agent she got very excited because she said it reminded her of Angle of Repose.

In middle school I wrote a paper on Hemingway and none of the sentences had more than five words.

Promised Lands was a better book in my opinion, and it's still my mother's favorite of the three I've done, but I doubt anyone who isn't a blood relative has ever heard of it. Which is to say expectations aren't worth much in the book world.

I love the mystery, the reconstruction of history, and the way past and future define each other.

I love the writers in Austin. We stick together. We all like each other and go to each other's book signings in case no one else shows up.