Interviews

Nature is scary-beautiful, especially in the backcountry. I always carry a simmering fear of what I’ll find or what will find me alone on the trail: bears, storms, men.

That's a concern that one might have in the middle of one’s life: “How much time do I have left? What did I not do? What do I still need to do?”

If you are reading the story of the last human on Earth, then you should expect to have to do some work.

I want to see a novel with POC characters but that’s the least interesting part of the book. . . . Just write a great book that happens to inhabit this world.

When entering a narrative that has great emotion, it’s important to commit to capturing the emotion and portraying it. But also knowing when to stop.

. . . it’s the poet or artist’s job to open up a new dialogue, to ask questions that aren’t being asked

All of life is simultaneity for everyone. We’re all inside of many different tracks of experience at once.

I want my readers to get whatever comes to their hearts and minds as they read the novel.

An oral tradition is something you can add to a story that already exists, and you can now retell in a way.

Humor and self-deprecation can impose an ironizing distance, but at what cost?

You have to advocate for your work and make sure that you aren’t waiting on some fairy godmother that isn’t coming.