The answers are what they are. Just because you don't like them doesn't mean they aren't true.

The only truth was whatever you could make someone believe.

All life's a risk, that's what makes it interesting.

I do not often follow my characters off on tangents or change my story on a whim. I have an outline which I follow quite sternly...for a good long while. Then it turns out in some way to be insurmountably wrong and I am forced to re-think every component. Usually at this point I throw hundreds of pages away.

I read a ton of fiction - historical, contemporary, literary, commercial, I love it all.

Coming up with the idea is the worst part of writing for me.

Of course, there are hundreds of novels and authors that have influenced me. But to choose three, they are: Stephen King/The Stand (and really most of his books); Anne Rice/The Witching Hour; and Pat Conroy/The Prince of Tides. These authors write my favorite kind of book - epic feel, gorgeous prose, unique characters, and a pace that keeps you turning the pages. From them, I learned a lot about characterization, pacing, prose, voice, and originality.