I want women writers to write boldly, wildly, deeply. I want them to feel really liberated to tell the brutal truth, however they see that truth and are moved to tell it.

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.

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.

My oldest sister was an actress living in NYC by the time I was ten, and desperately wanted to be the one in charge of the words.

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.

If you look at the world one way, it takes from you - it's a thief of time, energy, creative mojo. But if you look at the world another way, it gives you an endless supply of motivation.

I'm a writer of faith. I was raised Catholic, and I have a deeply Catholic imagination.