I was at an art museum with my parents, and was quite taken with a [Vincent] Van Gogh painting. I stood admiring the painting for some time, and then realized that in addition to feeling moved by the beauty of the painting, I felt a little jealous of the painter.

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

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

Because Ivy [Wilkes] is just starting out as an artist, I wanted to focus on [Georgia] O'Keeffe's experiences when she was just starting out. I suspect there is a difference between being an unknown artist and being a celebrated artist. When nobody knows your work, nobody except you really cares whether or not you paint.

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

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