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.

What does it mean to be Catholic and not a Catholic? I feel adrift, homeless. My Catholic imagination allows me to see the soul as a lit breath, seeking the divine. It persists.

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

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.

The basic rule of storytelling is 'show, don't tell.

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.

Some of the best work done to combat the Republicans has been wit and humor.