Kate Atkinson Is An Absolute Must-read. I

For A Short Time, I Hated Them. But When You Think About It, What Good Does That Do?it Takes So Much To Hold On To Hate—you Lose Your Grip On What's Important, You Know?

What I Want To Do Is Tell Stories About Normal People In The American Suburbs. I Don't Write The Book Where It's A Conspiracy Reaching The Prime Minister; I Don't Write The Book With The Big Serial Killer Who Lops Off Heads. My Setting Is A Very Placid Pool Of Suburbia, Family Life. And Within That I Can Make Pretty Big Splashes.

You Know, People Call Mystery Novels Or Thrillers 'puzzles.' I Never Understood That, Because When I Buy A Puzzle, I Already Know What It Is. It's On The Box. And Even If I Don't, If It's A 5,000-piece Puzzle Of The 'mona Lisa', It's Not Like I Put The Last Piece In And Go, 'i Had No Idea It's The 'mona Lisa'!'

Painful Memories Didn't Just Ease Back In-they Shoved The Door Open Hard, All Of Them And All At Once

But Sometimes, Maybe Most Times, It Isn't That Clear. It Is Dark And You Are Near The Edge Of A Cliff, But You're Moving Slowly, Not Sure Which Direction You're Heading In. Your Steps Are Tentative But They Are Still Blind In The Night. You Don't Realize How Close You Are To The Edge, How The Soft Earth Could Give Away, How You Could Just Slip A Bit And Suddenly Plunge Into The Dark.