My strong suit is that I've been willing to risk on the page to get somewhere interesting.

I start with fear. It comes in so many forms. When I write, some of the fear goes away. So I write into the fear, and even more dissipates. I want to be scared while writing. I want to bring it to the surface so I can banish it.

People aren't social. They're tribal. Race doesn't exist, but tribes are real.

My strong suit is that I've been willing to risk on the page to get somewhere interesting.

I look white to a lot of people. And I'm not. I'm African-American. I'm mixed. I like to call myself Mulatto because that definition fits. So, you know, I've dealt with the conflict my whole life between how I look and my actual ethnic and racial identity.

Even drunk, I knew any escape plan that involved going to Detroit, Michigan, was a harbinger of doom.

My weak suit is whatever each reader hates about each book.