When a colleague of mine had a notable New York Times book, I said, turn one of the chapters in the collection into a pitch for a novel and sell it to your publisher.

I try not to divide plot and character. I get to know a character by what they want and fear and how those internal forces play out in their lives.

Weakness, like not being able to bury the past. Weakness, like not giving up hope when you know you should.

I am deeply Catholic and always will be, but I'm no longer a member of the church. I left in 2003 because of the sex abuse scandal.

Each genre has something to teach me about the others. Not all the lessons are transferable, but many of the most important ones are.

I believe that one of the most damning things about our culture is the adage to never talk religion and politics. Because we don't model this discourse at the dinner table and at Thanksgiving, we don't know how to do it well and we're not teaching our children about the world and about how to discuss it.

The generation of women who came before us did much of our shouting. They laid the groundwork and now we can be calm and constant and steady.