I love the freedom of fiction! In journalism you can't put snappy, snazzy words into people's mouths; in fiction, you can-- and must. (Of course, often the characters in my novels will say something I never planned.) In journalism, most of my articles were limited to a tight 2000 to 3000 words at best; in fiction -- wow, 80,000? 100,000? I've been trained well enough as a journalist that I do ridiculous amounts of research to get the facts and details right, but still, if my character really needs to be working on a laptop at her mother's house in January 2003 to search for her long-lost friend in Israel, she can. (Strictly speaking, her mother -- a Luddite-ish social worker -- would've been unlikely to own a laptop then.)

Of course, journalism has one big advantage: You don't have to invent characters or plot. You take the facts and just try to organize them and retell them in an interesting way.

I hope this helps. Thanks for being part of my AMA.