The characters in my novels, from the very first one, are always on some quixotic effort of attempting to control something that is uncontrollable - some element of the world that is essentially random and out of control.

… but only because exhaustion is a life-sign; it is at least a form of being human.

You cannot drive with your eyes in the rear-view mirror… But dignity is difficult to maintain. Stamina requires constant upkeep. Repetition is boring. And you pay for grace.

When writing a novel, I'm not smart enough to know how to foreshadow something if I don't know what it is.

Children are most impressed with the importance of a moment when they witness a parent breaking the parents' own rule.

I begin with an interest in a relationship, a situation, a character.

There's no reason you should write any novel quickly.