"You can do anything you want as long as you can pull it off."

"The most important thing I've learned is to trust my instincts.  My professor Kathryn Harrison had this interesting way of putting it, that it's like walking a tightrope, and you're doing it but, the minute you start having doubts or second-guessing yourself—that's when you start to lose your balance.  It took me a while to get to a place where I finally did trust my instincts, and it was very liberating.  From then on, I felt more confident to take risks in the writing and break the rules, if you will."

"It took me awhile to get to that place. But I think that once you have the confidence to write from your gut, that's when the magic really starts to happen."