Heaven, Kiwi thought, would be the reading room of a great library. But it would be private. Cozy. You wouldn't have to worry about some squeaky-shoed librarian turning the lights off on you or gauging your literacy by reading the names on your book spines, and there wouldn't be a single other patron. The whole place would hum with a library's peace, filtering softly over you like white bars of light.

Could we betray our parents by going back to them?

Self-disciplin e is necessary, but so is playfulness, flexibility, joy. When you stop demanding perfection of yourself, your writing desk will become a spacious place.

For me, the term "literary fiction" means there's always attention paid to language, and linguistic experimentation, sophistication.

I am extremely close to my brother, Kent, and my sister, Lauren, who have been remarkably understanding about all of my weird sibling tales.

Mythology is a really beautiful vocabulary passed down through centuries that helps us understand the perennial parts of our nature.

It is a special kind of homelessness to be evicted from your dreams.