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

Write what you care about.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I'm a grandmother, and a mighty proud one.

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.

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

You get weird and unsettling behaviour in the country.

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

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

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

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

I live and die with the Chicago Cubs.

I love to sing. I'm a soprano.

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

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.