There's also a lot of gritty Americana type of bands. I actually have a lot of Britpop on my iPod, too.

I have always tended toward a lush prose style, but I take care to modulate it from story to story and to strip it down entirely when necessary.

I had learned so much about the world that I had decided to withdraw from it.

Imbuing fiction with a life that extends beyond the last word is in some ways the goal: the ending that goes beyond the ending in the reader's mind, so invested are they in the story.

So many differing opinions and philosophies... are rarely housed under the roof of a single magazine.

I see music as an aid. It overcomes my internal editor, especially when the music evokes the character or the mood I'm trying to build.

Once you realize there's less logic in human institutions than you once thought, you see the narrative potential in just about everything around you. Sometimes, in fact, it seems as if the human world runs on inefficiency and erratic behavior.