I love to think about chance - about how one little overheard word, one pebble in a shoe, can change the universe.

I've always thought sleep was a wonderful invention. Not that being awake isn't nice too, of course. But when I get up in the morning, I think, boy, only fourteen more hours and I can be back to sleep again ... And I never dream, because it distracts my mind from pure sleeping.

Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!

The one ironclad rule is that I have to try. I have to walk into my writing room and pick up my pen every weekday morning

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

My family can always tell when I'm well into a novel because the meals get very crummy.

Not until the final draft do I force myself to remember that I'm going to have to think about how it will affect other people.