At peace? Who but the insane would ever be at peace? What person who has enjoyed life could possibly think one is enough? Who could live even a day and not feel the sweet ache of regret?

You take something from your past that you're somewhat ashamed about and you write about it from another character's point of view.

The first seven years that I wrote fiction, I sent out stories and a novel and made a total of $25.

I'm certainly eclectic in my writing.

I think the path to becoming a writer has become more through the novel. It's easier to get a novel published than a book of stories, obviously, especially through big publishers.

I'm a professional. So before I published any novels, I'd always been writing stories.

I love humor in writing, so I've written to the thing that's funny, there's the joke, but then I just kept going. I started thinking about all the bikes I've had stolen, and that got me thinking about crime, and that got me thinking about the city I'm in.