I've gotten to do a lot of stuff, traveled, worked hard at my career.

The past was worth remembering and knowing in its own right. It was not behind us, never truly behind us, but under us, holding us up, a foundation for all that was to come and everything that had ever been.

I begin each book with a challenge to myself.

I think Baltimore suffers from nostalgia and it keeps us from being honest in talking about what really happened here. A place doesn't have to be perfect to be beloved, and I love this city and I love it better for seeing its flaws.

There's always time to read. Don't trust a writer who doesn't read. It's like eating food prepared by a cook who doesn't eat.

In fact, I think every book I've written has been inspired by a real event.

I'm at the age most people are sending their kids off to college.