Pretending to be 'normal' is a lot harder than you think.

Ghosts don't haunt us. That's not how it works. They're present among us because we won't let go of them.

Sometimes I claim I write because I put in an application at Sears and they've never called back.

My father taught me to love detective fiction writers such as Raymond Chandler. When I decided to have a hard-boiled detective series I did a lot of studying before I wrote the first book. I learned police procedure, the California criminal law, and many areas outside my expertise.

The memory is like orbiting twin stars, one visible, one dark, the trajectory of what's evident forever affected by the gravity of what's concealed.

I write because it's all I know how to do. Writing is my anchor and my purpose. My life is informed by writing, whether the work is going well or I'm stuck in the hell of writer's block, which I'm happy to report only occurs about once a day.

I think you'd best make your peace with the past since you've come this far. I think you know by now that you won't go back again.