Killing characters on television has become an easy short cut to cathartic emotion.

As someone with a novelistic background, I just didn't have much interest in creating stories by committee. I don't think you necessarily get the best story through that approach.

At DePauw, I was teaching writing and fiction. The things I wanted to teach, more than anything else, were form and theory of the novel, of narrative. I liked those classes.

The ideas within this philosophy are certainly not exclusive to any writer.

I was raised by television. It was my first cultural window. It was a constant companion.

I've found that all weak people share a basic obsession - they fixate on the idea of satisfaction. Anywhere you go men and women are like crows drawn by shiny objects. For some folks, the shiny objects are other people, and you'd be better off developing a drug habit.

The Atlantic really gave me my writing career - even just the conviction to be a writer.