I knew from previous books not to count on anything in terms of sales. My first novel - -The Raven's Bride, about Sam Houston's disastrous first marriage - -sold well and got attention, but my second book - -Promised Lands, about the Texas Revolution - -didn't.

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.

I wrote a paper [in school] on [William] Faulkner and no one could tell what the sentences meant.

I changed my hopes to being a singer [when I was a child] and sat around with my hair in my face droning Mac Davis songs. Writing was sort of a last stand. Come to think of it, it was the only "talent" I had that anyone asked for more of.

It took me ten years to write The Night Journal, so that was a big ordeal.

I think when you're a writer most of what you read influences you. The rhythms get into your head.

It seems like the Western genre has crept out of its casings during the last few years, and expanded to include books and movies we wouldn't originally have thought of as westerns.