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.

And I know I'm supposed to feel guilty for wanting people to buy my books... and books in general? Novels and poetry, they belong to the realm of art. How dirty of us to try to hawk art! But, after a decade of hand-wringing and apologies, I can't quite muster the guilt anymore.

When you're in the world looking for only one thing, you find it or it finds you. The obsession can be mutual

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

While I was in college becoming a good Catholic I was also becoming a writer - one haunted by Catholicism.

The intricacy of plotting a thriller is akin to writing formal poetry.

Our stories are what we have,” Our Good Mother says. “Our stories preserve us. we give them to one another. Our stories have value. Do you understand?