Fate is a quantity very much like TV: an unstoppable narrative, written, produced and directed by somebody else.

You don't come to live here unless the delusion of a reality shaped around your own desires isn't a strong aspect of your personality. A reality shaped around your own desires - there is something sociopathic in that ambition.

But sometimes it's like you just meet someone and you just know that you're totally connected, and this person is, like, your brother - or your sister. Even if they don't, like, recognize it, you feel it. And in a lot of ways it don't matter if they do or they don't see that for what it is - all you can do is put the feeling out there. That's your duty. Then you just wait and see what comes back to you. That's the deal.

Work on a computer that is disconnected from the ­internet.

One thing you learn about the novel as a form is that it's always smarter than you are.

She hopes for nothing except fine weather and a resolution. She wants to end properly, like a good sentence.

I'm most honest about writing when I'm talking to family or friends, not to newspapers.