I don't believe in mistakes. Never have. I believe that there are a multitude of paths before us and it's just a matter of which way we walk home. I don't believe in regret. If you regret things about your life, than I'll bet that you're not paying attention. Regret is just imagining that you know what would have happened if you took that job in California or married your high-school sweetheart or just looked one more time before you stepped out into the street ... or didn't. But you don't know; you can't possibly know.

I definitely feel that plot flows from character. I dont believe that you can construct a plot and insert people into it.

People who stay in the same town with the same friends for their entire lives never get a chance to find out who they can really be, because they will always be considered as who they were.

The worst violence we can do to each other often is psychological, especially in families. I dwell a lot on domestic danger. Thats the backdrop of most of my novels - what kind of damage is done without ever lifting a finger.

Isn't it funny how the people least impacted by tragedy are the most eager to move on?

The universe conspires to reveal the truth and to make your path easy if you have the courage to follow the signs.

Alafair Burke is one of the finest young crime writers working today.