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.

Literature has done great work for feminism - writing and reading are a practice of empathy - and great literature will continue to do so.

Basically if you burst into my office the walls themselves will flutter as if alive - maybe that's the reason for all the wings in 'Pure.

As a writer, my main objective is to tell the story urgently - as if whispering it into one ear - and to know the characters intimately.

Being cross-genre, you can encounter an image and decide not only how to best express it but what form would express it best.

Our imaginations are strong as children. Sometimes they get shoved aside, these imaginations. They get dusty and mildewed with age. The imagination is a muscle that has to be put to use or it shrivels.

Love is a luxury. It's something that people are allowed to indulge in when they're not simply trying to survive and keep other people alive.