I started blogging in 2006 when I had sold my first novel but it had not yet been published, in those anxious months in between while I learned the whole process.

The main thing I've learned is that we all have to learn to work with - and appreciate - the brain we've been given, and not waste time wishing things were easier.

I started writing 'The Lobster Kings' the day after I sold my first novel, 'Touch.'

I've always been a reader and a writer.

It's easy to get published once you have written a really good book and the hard part, 99 percent of what you need to worry about, is really finishing it.

When you are young, hone your craft and write shorter pieces instead of novels, because it's really hard to finish a novel.