College of Arts and Sciences

Roger rarely got angry with me, but one time in his office he barked, "Amy, the Ph.D. program is not a cakewalk!" I have no idea what prompted this, but since Roger was normally gentle as a lamb, it got my attention. Mostly I remember his thoughtful longhand comments and...

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"It’s refreshing in many ways to write short stories after having tackled a novel, which is such an all consuming beast of an undertaking. Of course, writing a short story is draining, too, for you have to work on drawing large ideas in a much smaller space." 1.   Silk...

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"The ever-present possibility of disaster throughout our history has— I would argue—helped to strengthen the culture. "        David Rutledge 1. Could you talk a little bit about this project? I understand that Where We Know: New Orleans as Home is the second book in a planned trilogy. What did...

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How did you first come to write mysteries? And why mysteries particularly? And why funny mysteries? Actually, I wrote my first mystery story at the age of ten, and during my teens I was very drawn to romantic suspense. Nancy Drew happened early, and Sherlock Holmes, and Agatha Christie...

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"Students enter programs with ideas of their own about what is acceptable and what is not, but they are strongly influenced by what they can observe during their three or six or ten years of graduate study. They graduate with clearer ideas of what is ideal, what is...

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