I know important literary writers who can't get published.

If there is some blood on the pages then you have some readership.

First-book novelists and storywriters haven't yet failed and so it's easier to publish them - you can gamble on a success. Whereas someone who has written four books that are highly literary and demanding and require you as a reader. They may not be republished.

What to know about pain is how little we do to deserve it, how simple it is to give, how hard to lose.

What I try to do is read stuff that won't deal with the dangerous dark things I hope I am writing about.

Good art is a form of prayer. It's a way to say what is not sayable.

The best defense is a good story.