Harriet Doerr quotes

There are too few of these gems on the internet, but this is what I've found so far:

"I found I'm quite happy working on a sentence for an hour or more,
searching for the right phrase, the right word," she said in an
interview. "I compare it to the work of a stone cutter — chipping away
at the raw material until it's just right, or as right as you can get
it."

"Where you are changes you--the tree outside your window, the mountains, the lake," she says, closing her eyes, remembering. "Writing derives from an accumulation of experience. It's as if you collect facts and observations over time, like a stone to stand on. From there, imagination takes over."

"I operate from chaos and have all sorts of secret approaches to my work. I don't think I could do it with an audience," she says. "Other people don't need to be alone with their thoughts so much. I sort of starve if I don't have time alone."