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I don't make that hard and fast distinction between political and nonpolitical writing. I write about what bothers me.

I took a political stance early on, but I don't think my work is overtly political. I respond to events.

Expressing political opinion can be a powerful way to establish a character's voice when writing fiction.

I am not a politics wonk. I like the idea of my writing reflecting more about who I am or other people.

As a writer, I have readers who will have a range of political views. I don't think they look to me for political guidance.

If you're writing an opinion piece, it's your job to write your opinion. If, on the other hand, you wrote a novel, as Virginia Woolf tells us, it would be inappropriate if you let your novel be influenced by your political opinions.

What I do know is that writing is the thing I am best at, and I don't have the stomach, the ability, the strength or the courage to enter the political arena. And I think writing can be a political act, if only to let those people accountable know they are being watched. Literature can be a conscience.

I am not a political writer. I agree with Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell, who are social writers. I can't write in that fashion. I am not good enough for that. What I am interested in is family dramas and why we are doing bad things to each other and what our motives are.

There are so many people who are so much better qualified to write about politics than I am.