That's such a thrill - a story I wrote at the beginning of my career, and it's still packin' the house.

I have my good days and my bad days, but I don't have as much energy as I used to back when I was young and foolish and didn't count the cost - and it takes a lot - to write.

What I used to do between writing fits was feed my kids, ride my horse and go shopping for cat and dog food.

I do outlines when I'm writing with someone, but they also need to have a certain amount of freedom.

It is easy to fall into despair thinking about all that is wrong with the world. The joys seems so small in comparison. Internet videos of cats riding Roombas just can't compete with a father talking about how his dead 13-year-old son had wanted to be a pilot.

We live in such a digital age. Paper is going out of our lives. A poem on paper is tangible.

We think the way out of poverty is to view the poor as producers, and the Internet is probably the most efficient tool we have for tapping this capacity. Because you don't need roads. You don't need customs officials who are friendly. You don't need to manage shipping and delivery schedules. You don't have to worry about tariffs.

You have to learn how to harness technology so you can use it for positive stuff without being disconnected from nature.