Featured on The Criterion

My interview at The Criterion has just been published! Here is how it starts:

Writers that captivate you have a way with the pen, they can sweep you off your feet and into the page, into the story, to a different time and place. So, how do we do it? Like Yogi Berra used to say, you can see a lot just by looking. For example, when Anita stands on the Santa Monica peer, and spots her husband out there, in a sea-food restaurant, with another woman--you can be sure that I have studied every detail about the restaurant--especially the menu--by going online and selecting the dishes Anita might wish to remember. Here is her voice:

"I could see the slice of lime on the lip of his glass, and closed my eyes—but still, was blocked from smelling it. I tried, in vain, to bring back the touch of salt around the rim, and the scent of butter on mashed potatoes, and the meaty flavor of wild mushrooms, and the pleasure you get with every gulp of hot, thick clam chowder. I could almost lick the spoon, and pinch the bread, and wipe the bowl with it, ‘cause I had known all that. Me, I had been there with him, like, a lifetime ago."

To read the entire interview, click here: The Criterion