I would rather be dead than not read

There was some open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nothing could be done about it, and if you can't fix it you've got to stand it.

It takes a year, nephew... a full turn of the calendar, to get over losing someone.

Develop craftsmanship through years of wide reading.

If you get the landscape right, the characters will step out of it, and they'll be in the right place.

I find it satisfying and intellectually stimulating to work with the intensity, brevity, balance and word play of the short story.

I think it's important to leave spaces in a story for readers to fill in from their own experience.