They both seemed to understand that describing it was beyond their powers, the gratitude that spreads through your body when a burden gets lifted, and the sense of homecoming that follows, when you suddenly remember what it feels like to be yourself.

I'm used to adapting my novels for feature film - it can be challenging to cut and compress three or four hundred pages into two hours of dramatic action.

I write about kids growing up, I write a lot about schools and parents, and all of my experiences with those things have been suburban experiences.

I did a lot of reading of the Bible and became fascinated with the idea of the Rapture. It's pretty wild. I hadn't heard of it until I was in college.

If anything, he seemed a little lonely, all too ready to open his heart at the slightest sign of interst.

When I was writing 'The Abstinence Teacher,' I really tried to immerse myself in contemporary American evangelical culture.

It just took some people a little longer than others to realize how few words they needed to get by, how much of life they could negotiate in silence.