I used to have a really sharp memory. And its loss has proven destabilizing from an identity perspective.

We want to believe we couldn't be replaced, and that the people we love are irreplaceable.

I wish somebody knew whether or not I'm Jewish.

I guess what I find so interesting about memory, and its role in a person's identity, is how the attempt to achieve accuracy requires you to remove yourself from your life in an authorial manner.

The twisty nature of psychic attack - are you being attacked, or did you bring this attack on yourself? - speaks to me of an American cultural paradox we all grapple with. There's the rampant litigiousness of our society, and the desire to blame others for our misfortunes.

Structure is, for me, the most fun challenge about writing novels.

A logic proof is: you get a starting point and an ending point, and you have to get there through all these different steps and tautologies. I approach novel writing that way. When I get to the end I have to go back and connect everything.