I've always written about animals. I'm still trying to process why that is.

What inspires me most to write is the act of traveling.

Suddenness," he says. " You do not prepare, you do not explain, you do not apologize. Suddenly, you go. And with you, you take all contemplation, all consideration of your own departure. All the suffering that would have come from knowing comes after you are gone, and you are not a part of it.

My road to publishing actually came through a colleague who connected me to my agent, and the faculty at Cornell was very supportive.

When you're in a place, the details you focus on are different than details you focus on when you're writing about it.

I am very interested in place, and the influences of place on characters.

A lot of writers that I know have told me that the first book you write, you write about your childhood, whether you want to or not. It calls you back.