The book [The Dissemblers] officially came out two weeks after my thirtieth birthday...am I still young?

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've spent many a day worrying that I will never be able to write again!

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

At the beginning of the book [The Dissemblers], Ivy [Wilkes] has a long way to go in order to achieve self-sufficiency. Although she is very independent, even somewhat of a loner, she is very affected by other peoples' opinions. At the opening of the book, her ideas of success and achievement are largely defined by the approval of others; over the arc of the story, I think that begins to change a little.

[Ivy Wilkes] loves [Georgia] O'Keeffe's work, but is not satisfied by just looking at the paintings; she wants the painting to be her own. The plot grew naturally out of Ivy's personality (and flaws).

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!