In general, I think, less is more, and that if a reader stops reading because a book is too icky then I've failed in my obligation to the readers.

Generally my typical books have lots of twists and turns a big surprise ending and then usually another surprise at the end and ideally, as in Garden of Beasts, we get to the very end and we find at the last few pages that there's yet another surprise.

Too much screaming in Congress. Too much screaming everywhere.

My books are primarily plot driven but the best plot in the world is useless if you don't populate them with characters that readers can care about.

In the shaded portions where the two spheres of different lives meet, certain fundamentals- moods, loves, fears, angers- can't be hidden. That's the contract.

People want to avoid the past. I suppose that's natural. When we tally up all we've said and done over the years, despite the wonderful memories, the regrets may be fewer but stand out more prominently, glowing coals that we can never quite extinguish, try though we might

When you work alone, you need to socialize at some level.