Writing a book set in New Mexico was partially a way to express my own love for the state, and partially a way to prudently follow the advice to write what you know.

I lived in New Mexico until I was seventeen, and honestly I've been homesick ever since I left.

I find that time constraints actually make me more productive, and "real world" experiences provide a lot of inspiration to write.

When Ivy [Wilkes] begins her work in forgery, she doesn't yet know the toll that it will take on her own original work. She even thinks it might be a way to find inspiration. By the time she realizes that she has lost her own voice, she is thoroughly entangled in the forgery mess.

I did take one drawing class in school, but for this book I spent a lot of time talking to painters and asking them silly questions.

Yet [Georgia O'Keeffe ] always stayed true to her vision, and was at times uncompromising in following the path she saw for herself.

I am a tragically bad artist.