Responding to questions from sumsinnow :

1. Sometimes literature no matter how “colorful” it’s written seems very flat, so, tell us how you achieve a sense of texture when you write?
The key is selective detail. A passage that’s busy with observation will always pale next to a passage with three well-chosen details. Less is more. You have to give the reader just enough for them to be able to complete the picture on their own. Too much color is confusing, and dull.

2. What kind of cat would want, if Andy let you have one?
Just a quiet, friendly cat who purred a lot, loved being petted, and was mellow about lying around the apartment. One who’d sit in my lap while I read a book or watched a movie.

3. Speaking of Andy, where would you be if Andy wasn’t in your life, right now?
Great question. I don’t have a good answer. I would probably be a lot more “productive,” but also more selfish and more lonely. I’d probably still be living in Chicago but I’d be living alone. No roommates. Other than that it’s awfully hard to picture where my life would be. Knowing myself as I do, I’d be sleeping around a lot more.