TMR: Wikipedia says that The Basic Eight was rejected for its subject matter and tone, and we're curious: did you make any changes to it that may have caused Thomas Dunne Books to publish it? Or were they just unique in that the subject matter didn't frighten them, like it may have the other publishing houses?

DH: One shouldn't read too much into rejection letters. It's like asking someone why they won't go out with you—they have to say something. So who knows why so many editors weren't interested in The Basic Eight, but Thomas Dunne Books was trying an experiment in which they bought and published many first novels for very little money, and waited to see if anything stuck.