I busted my chin open trying to be Evel Knievel on my bike. When it happened, you could see straight through to the bone, I thought my dad was going to pass out. It left a scar that I still have now.

When you write as a woman, there's this feeling there's going to be a softness.

I think crime fiction is a great way to talk about social issues, whether 'To Kill A Mockingbird' or 'The Lovely Bones;' violence is a way to open up that information you want to get out to the reader.

I always say 'thriller;' if they see you're a woman - and you're a blond woman - people assume you're writing about cats and romances where somebody has died.

I grew up in a small town in Georgia where nothing bad happened - it was like Mayberry.

My dad believed in scaring us as we were growing up. Scaring the boys who wanted to date us more.