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

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.

From beginning to end, the novel [Dissemblers] took about three and a half years to write. I didn't write it chronologically.

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!

The motivation to paint seems more pure, or at least more personal, when the artist is doing it for herself.

I was envious of [Vincent] Van Gogh because I could never make a painting that beautiful! (Ridiculous, I know.) That was when the character of Ivy [Wilkes] began to take shape for me.