No agent wants to see a book until he or she has decided whether to pursue the relationship

Heart surgeons do not have the world's smallest egos: when you ask them to name the world's three leading practitioners, they never can remember the names of the other two.

My parents were liberal intellectuals but even they expected me to stay at home and look after my younger siblings and do the housework.

I went to college at the University of Kansas, where I got a degree in political science.

I always wrote; my first story was published in the magazine The American Girl when I was 11

I spent 10 years as a marketing manager. I've found my experience in the financial world invaluable background for writing about white-collar crimes.

It took me nine months to write 60 pages. It was very frustrating