I've always been drawn to historical fiction.

[On men:] ... you never know what they're like until you get them home and take them out of their packages.

You can only make decisions with the information you have at the time

First and foremost, I want people to have a good read, because I want everything I write to entertain people. There are always different layers to the story, though, so if you want to think about social justice, or sexism or racism or homophobia, or really drill down into why the world is a better place when the police force looks like the people they are policing, then that's there, too.

Like every Southern writer, I thought that I needed to write the next Gone With the Wind.

I'm afraid of the general things that everyone is afraid of: a bump in the night that could be a cat or Death dragging his sickle across the room; losing my health; becoming homeless, never meeting George Clooney.

I have a few unusual fans, as you can imagine, so I try to protect the privacy of my home life.