I don't want to say I hear voices; well, actually I do hear voices, but I don't think it's supernatural. I think it's just that when characters are given enough texture and backbone, then lo and behold, they stand on their own.

I think I was born with the impression that what happened in books was much more reasonable, and interesting, and real, in some ways, than what happened in life.

The hardest novel to write was Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant.

I never think about the actual process of writing. I suppose I have a superstition about examining it too closely.

Something was wrong with a world where people came and went so easily.

When you have children, you're obligated to live.

I've always enjoyed studying the small clues that indicate a particular class level.