Two of these trucks will travel nationwide, two of these trucks will travel along the I-5 corridor. I know we'll get tips on these cases.

I think the plasticity of the novel is its greatest challenge. There are no rules; there is no necessary form. You can know what you want it to be, or do, and still not know how to write it. There are endless possibilities, infinite choices. What voice should it be in? What events to start with? What characters will be part of it?

It makes me feel like I have more options than just, you know, calling the airlines or calling the travel agent,

When artwork is involved, it's almost assumed that it's going to travel. It's too hot to stay here.

One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.

No camera, no recording device, no laptop, none of this palm pilot nonsense or a cell phone. Paper and pencil, a book, maybe a bilingual dictionary. Anything beyond that (a) can be stolen, and (b) intimidates people you encounter. The more double-A batteries you carry, the more you distance yourself from the people you're writing about.