I like to see writers reach bigger and bigger audiences, and stand-alones have allowed some of them to do just that.

Whatever you want, at any moment, someone else is getting it. Whatever you have, someone else is longing for.

There are, of course, an infinite number of places where one is not, yet only one place where one actually is.

Would-be novelists need to bring equal parts arrogance and ignorance to the task before them. The arrogance is almost self-explanatory. Walk into any bookstore or library, calculate how many lifetimes the average person would need to read all the fiction contained therein. To think that one has anything to contribute, to any genre or tradition, takes genuine hubris.

Reporting is pretty vital to me. It keeps me connected to the world. A 40-hour-per-week day job may be less feasible as time goes on.

it's smarter to be lucky than it's lucky to be smart.

Anyone can love a perfect place. Loving Baltimore takes some resilience.