Sometimes life coughs up coincidences no writer of fiction would dare copy.

Life turns on a dime.

He could feel the pores of his body open like a million mouths and slurp the water in like a sponge.

Wherever you write is supposed to be a little bit of a refuge, a place where you can get away from the world. The more closed in you are, the more you're forced back on your own imagination.

Fault always lies in the same place: with him weak enough to lay blame.

I like to end stories where the readers have a little room to run. They can resolve things as they like in their own mind.

I don't really map anything out. I just let it happen [while writing]. But once it happens, it's always there. If it's laid, it's played. If I get to page 300 and it's not working, I junk it.