I'll write maybe one long paragraph describing the events, then a page or two breaking the events into chapters, and then reams of pages delving into my characters. After that, I'm ready to begin

Point of view is not something I consciously decide. Almost always, when I come up with a plot I find that the point of view has automatically arrived with it, part and parcel of the story.

...he thought of dying as a kind of adventure, something new that he hadn't yet experienced. Like an unusual vacation trip.

I write because I want more than one life; I insist on a wider selection. It's greed, plain and simple.

She was good at talking with young people. She seemed to view them as interesting foreigners.

I'm beginning to think that maybe it's not just how much you love someone. Maybe what matters is who you are when you're with them.

I forget a book as soon as I finish writing it, which is not always a good thing