I am conservative by temperament. I disapprove of criminal activity. I am very solidly and markedly on the side of authority. The truth is I would rather err on the side of too much authority than too little.

I like to be alone so I can write. But focus can hurt you. I don't want to be some stress casualty in early middle age.

My father actually went to college, and my mother went to nursing school, so, you know. I wouldn't... They were actually too square and right-wing to be hip, too well-educated to be white trash, too sexy to be square. They really didn't fit any mold. They weren't really hipsters. They were just - they were two of a kind, those two.

Closure is a preposterous concept worthy of the worst aspects of American daytime TV.

Anybody who doesn't know that politics is crime has got a few screws loose.

I don't think I will write anything that could be even remotely considered a genre novel from this point on. I think I've graduated.

Periodically I just notch up. And everyone among my colleagues thinks that Perfidia - in its accessibility, its big throbbing heart - will be the biggest notch up yet. We'll see what happens. It's on my ass.