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Teaching and writing, to me, is really just seduction; you go to where people are and you find something that they're interested in and you try and use that to convince them that they should be interested in what you have to say.

I have certain moral parameters that I do not cross in writing; I don't write about adultery or kids having premarital sex.

Because I don't have to be careful of people's feelings when I teach literature, and I do when I'm teaching writing.

Teaching does allow me to keep one foot in the youthful waters I tend to occupy in my novels, so I'm thankful for that. My students also remind me on a daily basis that the stories I collected during my district attorney days are actually interesting to people who haven't had that experience.

When I teach, I preach. I thump the Bible. I exhort my students morally. I talk to them about the dedicated life.

When I began to be published, people got the idea that I should 'teach writing,' which I have no idea how to do and don't really believe in.

Characters have changed my mind about some very fundamental moral issues, and that's the real satisfaction in the way I write - the ultimate learning experience.

In some ways, what I learned is that you can take a character and breathe with them, and it's up to the audience to interpret rather than you putting moral stamp on the character.

I think teaching keeps me honest because if I'm up in front of a class talking about what I think is important about fiction while knowing I myself have just failed to do that hours earlier at my computer - it's a good and humbling reminder.