Local people seemed very angry for a very long time. It was extraordinary backlash. I was called a liar, I was called every(thing) else. It was enough of a backlash that I moved to Atlanta.
I've met many, many writers who say they would never write about their family, never write about people they did not totally make up. But that is not the composition of my character.
I'm fascinated by the people I grew up with and the mistakes I made - and God, I have screwed up. I like writing about where it all went off course.
She thought she brought a gift of compassion for those exhausted souls who had not received a chest portion from the people who raised them. If compassion and therapy did not work, she could always send her patients to the local pharmacy for drugs.
Cameras are a lifesaver for very shy people who have nowhere else to hide. Behind a lens they can disguise the fact that they have nothing to say to strangers.