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

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

In real life I avoid all parties altogether, but on paper I can mingle with the best of them

But I don't think people take bad advice. They've got intuition too, you know. In fact I'd be surprised if they take any advice at all.

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.

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

It struck her all at once that dealing with other human beings was an awful lot of work.