Crime and legal stories, broadly speaking, are just where my interest happens to lie.

Well, I outline fanatically. I am a long thinker and a slow writer, though I am trying to get faster.

I don't ever write with a particular audience in mind. I just write books that please me.

Probably careful plotting reflects my personality. I am meticulous by nature. I can't imagine speed-writing anything that happens to pop into my head.

When I was 30 or so - by that time I had become an assistant D.A. - I decided I would try to write a novel. To be clear: I did not decide to become a novelist. Honestly, it never crossed my mind that I could actually earn a living as a professional novelist.

The interior of a teenager’s mind is an endless war between Stupid and Clever.

There are many more ways to be attractive than to be beautiful.