I am deeply Catholic and always will be, but I'm no longer a member of the church. I left in 2003 because of the sex abuse scandal.

I was born in the era of the novel. I've written many, as well as collections of poetry, and essays for mouthing off. I've written to inches, word-counts, page-counts, even the sonnet and the screenplay (which I call a plot poem). I write narrative. That's it. I just want to tell it.

I've never thought there was anything I could hope to get by praying for it.

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 prefer a cluttered workspace.

I'm a woman, but I've been a sexist, too.

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