Plot And Scene Are Still The Hardest

I've Had A Lot Of Different Lives. I Was Adopted, I Grew Up In Nebraska, And Then I Went To Northwestern... Then I Had This Really Extraordinary, Different Life Than My Parents.

A Novel Requires A Certain Kind Of World-building And Also A Certain Kind Of Closure, Ultimately. Whereas With A Short Story You Have This Sense That There Are Hinges That The Reader Doesn't See.

Julie Orringer Is The Real Thing, A Breathtaking Chronicler Of The Secrets And Cruelties Underneath The Surface Of Middle-class American Life. These Are Terrific Stories-wise, Compassionate And Haunting.

Plot Was Always Secondary In My Mind.

I Knew I Wanted To Play Around With Genre-esque Imagery, And The Identity Theft Stuff Came In The Middle, When I Was Figuring Out How The Characters Were Connected To Those Images.