I didn't start writing so that I could more deeply know myself. I was bored of myself, my life, my childhood, my hometown. I started writing as a way to know others, to get away from myself.

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.

I didn't start writing so that I could more deeply know myself. I was bored of myself, my life, my childhood, my hometown. I started writing as a way to know others, to get away from myself.

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

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

I am politically pro-choice, but personally pro-life. I have my faith but refuse to force it on the world at large - especially this world, so brutal and unjust. I cannot make these wrenching personal life and death decisions for others - nor do I believe they should be made by a church run by childless men.

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.