I've had a very sheltered life. What can happen to you if you stay home writing all day?

At least I can write.

When I was a kid my family was really poor and I remember one Halloween I wanted to dress up really scary and my parents came home with a duck costume. I wore that costume for years! I hated it.

I've made myself laugh from some ideas - but I've never scared myself.

After spending 22 years in Ohio, I love everything about New York.

You have no control [over natural disaster]. That's what's scary about it. You're helpless. That feeling of helplessness is really scary.

When I write, I try to think back to what I was afraid of or what was scary to me, and try to put those feelings into books.