It annoys the hell out of me when people say, This is the kitchen, and this is the bathroom. What am I, Helen Keller? I mean, it's pretty obvious when you're in a kitchen and when you're not.

Was this the big one or was this the small tremor, the warning? Does it get better - does the sensation of being in a dream underwater go away?

Books tell you more about their owners than the owners do.

I'm nothing you can catch now. I am black powder, I am singe, I am the bomb that bursts the night.

Birthday parties make me nervous as hell. They're one of those things where you're forced to be happy. And even if you're totally depressed, you're got to pretend you're glad you were born, regardless of the fact that getting older means you're closer to dying.

I liked the fact she understood how we all have little secret habits that seem normal enough to us, but which we know better than to mention out loud.

You really can't write well if you're thinking about what the reviewers might say.