Time, in general, has always been a central obsession of mine - what it does to people, how it can constitute a plot all on its own. So naturally, I am interested in old age.

Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!

For my own family, I would always choose the makeshift, surrogate family formed by various characters unrelated by blood.

My family can always tell when I'm well into a novel because the meals get very crummy.

But what I hope for from a book - either one that I write or one that I read - is transparency. I want the story to shine through. I don't want to think of the writer.

The Amateur Marriage grew out of the reflection that of all the opportunities to show differences in character, surely an unhappy marriage must be the richest.

The one ironclad rule is that I have to try. I have to walk into my writing room and pick up my pen every weekday morning.