Writing across genres has made me more prolific. When one is fighting me or simply not cutting it, I turn to another.

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 was born in the era of the novel. I've written many, as well as collections of poetry, and essays for mouthing off. I've written to inches, word-counts, page-counts, even the sonnet and the screenplay (which I call a plot poem). I write narrative. That's it. I just want to tell it.

A good novel doesn't just transcend the boundaries of its target market - it knows nothing about target markets.

I'm a woman, but I've been a sexist, too.

The poem has to bear the weight with image, language... the screenplay with dialogue, plot.

Writers aren't born properly labeled so it is hard to know one when one appears.