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.

I tend to only write productively for one to two hours per day, so there is plenty of time left over for me to work a day job!

Ivy [Wilkes] does exhibit a certain impatience at the beginning of the book [The Dissemblers]. She doesn't want to wait through years of hard work and insignificance to make her mark on the art world. Part of her growth is in realizing - even embracing - that the process of art is more important than the product or the recognition.

Now I am as big of an [ Georgia] O'Keeffe admirer as Ivy [Wilkes] is, but that came through writing the book.

I was loosely aware that most of my characters were fundamentally selfish people, but I didn't intentionally make that a theme.

One thing that was inspiring to me in my research about [Georgia] O'Keeffe was to learn that in addition to her success she had very hard times, and times when she was frustrated and uninspired.

I am currently in nursing school, so one day I will be both a nurse and a writer.