Overall there may be less censorship in America than in China, but censorship and self-censorship are not only from political pressure, but also pressures from other places in a society.

I think our eyes are trained to look for what we want to see.

There is a certain amount of politeness here in America, which is probably more than just politeness.

Your characters are always your children. And while you are writing, you're keeping them safe. Now they're ready to go into the world and it's sad. I'm happy with the way the novel came out but all the characters' ending really saddened me.

Even the most innocent person, when cornered, is capable of a heartless crime.

I always tell my students to go back after a hundred pages and rewrite from the beginning. It's really harder if you've already finished four hundred pages and realize the first hundred aren't working.

Every place is a good place, only time goes wrong.