When I was thinking about all the things that the world had forgotten, it made me think about people who have actually really forgotten everything, and how much of our identity is wrapped up in those memories, and how much of our experience makes us who we are, and remembering those experiences makes us who we are.

I don't think I've ever done anything that's completely the same, yet.

We're naturally afraid of a spider - these are memories that are being chemically passed down through your DNA.

I am very into genealogy and heritage, and that's how I started writing.

I never have the feeling that I actually know what I'm doing or anything that I'm writing is any good.

I think the past is something I have spent a lot of time thinking about, not only what is different about the past but what's the same, and what links us to the past.

I personally love books that make me think, so I naturally gravitate toward writing a book like that, one that's going to make someone think and make me think.