Thank God Roxane Coss had not fallen in love with one of the Russians. She doubted they could make it up the stairs without stopping for a cigarette and telling at least one loud story that no one could understand.

Using your imagination is the one time in life you can really go anywhere.

When well told, a story captured the subtle movement of change. If a novel was a map of a country, a story was the bright silver pin that marked the crossroads.

Writing is a miserable, awful business. Stay with it. It is better than anything in the world.

You throw a person in the river and then make a spectacle of jumping in to save them.

I will write my way into another life.

To say it was a beautiful day would not begin to explain it. It was that day when the end of summer intersects perfectly with the start of fall .... [p.218 ff.]