After a year, it was great to get out of L.A. and return to Hyde Park. Since my grandparents lived in Hyde Park, I had been coming there since I was ….

I like to go where the life is..

I worked probably fewer jobs than most people, or fewer real soul-killing jobs than other people. I've been a typist, a typesetter, a keyliner, cappu….

When I was little, we lived on 8 acres and my mom had a horse. But when I was 7, my mom kicked my dad out, and then in order to feed us five kids, sh….

Any of us who listen to the news or listen to stories our neighbors tell are accustomed to violence. We have to decide then to ignore the violence an….

I do different work, teaching and running around visiting universities and bookstores, and that prevents me from writing. But it's nice to be wanted ….

We know that we need to explore desire in fiction - many say that the only way a story exists is that a character feels a strong desire - and nature ….

You can't beat a good sonnet, and you can write a sonnet without being married to the damned thing..

My normal writing day involves three hours of actual writing, before noon, and the rest is just feeding the writing. There is teaching (so I can affo….

Donkeys are the most misunderstood and abused animals around the world..

I love investigating the natural world, and I find a lot of truths there, truths about survival and beauty - nature continually surprises me (amazing….

Mostly the natural landscapes work as a sounding board for my characters, so they can understand themselves, and it acts as a mirror in which we read….

In fact, when I finally realized I was really going to write, when I was about thirty-four, I was working on my Ph.D. in Mathematics. I was just abou….

A mathematical proof is beautiful, but when you're finished, it's really only about one thing. A story can be about many things..

I loved writing for the school newspaper. I liked to report and interview people, but I really liked to write columns, funny columns..

I like living near my family, and near the people I understand the best. The landscape of Michigan speaks to me, and the humility and humor of the pe….

For 'King Cole's American Salvage,' I rode around in the wrecker with a local driver and watched him deal with customers and hook up the cars. I watc….

I grew up with donkeys, as well as horses, but I'm more interested in donkeys..

Where I live you're not supposed to shoot a firearm within a quarter mile of a dwelling..

I have a second-degree black belt in Okinawan kobudo weapons training..

I always felt a weird obligation to be adventurous..