I don't think we'll ever lose the desire for people to tell stories or to hear stories or to be entrapped in a beautiful story.

I love to swim, and I love being near water.

I never know as a writer when I set out into a novel where it's going to take me.

It's impossible to control the reception of your work - the only thing you can control is the experience of writing itself, and the work you create.

William Trevor is an author I admire; his stories are subtle and powerful, and beautifully written.

As a writer and as a reader, I really believe in the power of narrative to allow us ways to experience life beyond our own, ways to reflect on things that have happened to us and a chance to engage with the world in ways that transcend time and gender and all sorts of things.

I find my husband's family history fascinating, as they can trace the family lineage back to ancestors who fought, and died, in the first battle of the Revolution, as well as to many other interesting people.

I've always set my stories in places I know well. It frees me up to spend more imaginative time on the characters if I'm not worrying about the logistics.

Many Lexington natives believe they live in a special place, one impossible to leave. I'm not so sure about that - or it's more accurate to say I think a more general truth exists beneath it: the place you first call home stays with you always, whether you remain or go.

My first job was in a nursing home - a terrible place in retrospect. It was in an old house, and the residents were so lonely. People rarely visited them. I only stayed there a couple of months, but it made a strong impression on me.

One of my greatest times of inspiration is when I'm traveling or living in a new country - there's a tremendous freedom that comes from being unfettered by your own, familiar culture, and by seeing the world from a different point of view.

The way we behave, our views and outlooks really have their sources some place. They come from somewhere. Sometimes we don't even know what they are, and yet they're very powerful in our lives.

Though Lexington is not a small town, it sometimes feels like one, with circles of acquaintance overlapping once, then again; the person you meet by chance at the library or the pool may turn out to be the best friend of your down-the-street neighbor. Maybe that's why people are so friendly here, so willing to be unhurried.

Cleveland is the place I grew up and lived much of my adult life, so it will always be a part of my soul.

Each of my records has a different focus, a different theme.

I also spend a lot of time on political blogs, and music blogs getting things for my radio show.

I am pretty detached from the local music crowd though.

I have always abhorred the business end of music.

I probably had the most fun recording For Richer For Poorer in Nashville.

There's nothing remotely interesting to me about marketing music as a product.