"I have a friend who lives in the South Side of Chicago. I helped out at a church charity there where they try to give a bit of cohesion to a desperate area. Everyone was very welcoming."

"The best source for finding an agent is called Literary Agents of North America. It's a complete list of agents, not only by name and address, but by type of book they represent and by what their submission criteria are."

"People have less privacy and are crammed together in cities, but in the wide open spaces they secretly keep tabs on each other a lot more."

"I thought it was time for a tough, smart, likable female private investigator, and that's how VI came to life."

"I had wanted to write Ghost Country for a long time, but it wouldn't work."

"In 1986 we were trying to help women get in print, stay in print, and come to the attention of booksellers and libraries. At that time, books by men mystery writers were reviewed seven times as often as books by women."

"Capo, my first golden retriever, so loved to swim she once jumped off a cliff to get into Lake Superior."

"I realised I'd never climb Everest but thought I could still write a book."

"You get weird and unsettling behaviour in the country."

"Most people don't have the money to spend on advertising to create awareness among readers, nor do they have the contacts at newspapers or magazines to get their books reviewed."

"The crime novel has always been my favourite genre."

"Sisters in Crime now has more than 4,000 members worldwide."

"Reviewers said Ghost Country was rich, astonishing and affecting in the way it blended comedy, magic, and a gritty urban realism in a breathtaking ride along Chicago's mean streets."

"White-collar crime gets more outrageous by the second in America."

"My parents were liberal intellectuals but even they expected me to stay at home and look after my younger siblings and do the housework."

"I always wrote; my first story was published in the magazine The American Girl when I was 11."

"I live and die with the Chicago Cubs."

"The possibility of bringing white-collar criminals to justice is ever receding over the horizon."

"I'm very honoured that there is a loyal following and I hope it continues."

"I spent 10 years as a marketing manager. I've found my experience in the financial world invaluable background for writing about white-collar crimes."

"I wish I could remember where I put things. I spend half my life looking for my keys. With the other half I look for my glasses."

"It took me nine months to write 60 pages. It was very frustrating."

"Around the time I turned 30, I wanted to publish a novel."

"Write what you care about."

"I love to sing. I'm a soprano."

"I'm lucky in having found the perfect partner to spend my life with."

"I went to college at the University of Kansas, where I got a degree in political science."

"I grew up in conservative rural Kansas in the 1950s when it was expected that girls would not have a life outside the home, so educating them was a waste of time."