On the other hand, I mean, that is what writers have always been supposed to do, was to rely on their own devices and to--I mean, writing is a lonely business.

My novels aren't really generated by a single conceptual spark; it's more a process of many different elements that come together unexpectedly over a long peri…

People always want to call me a Southern writer but though I grew up in the South, I don't feel that the label quite fits my work.

It's interesting when a book comes to you. It comes to you in sort of flashes and you don't quite understand how they connect.

I rail against writers who talk about the loneliness of it all - what do they want, a crowd looking over their typewriters? Or those who talk about having to s…

I'm a lazy writer. My idea of heaven is not writing. On the other hand, I'm obviously compulsive about it.

I write to discover what I think. After all, the bars aren't open that early.