Smoking had become my favorite thing in the world to do. It was like having instant comfort, no matter where or when.

And I began to let him go. Hour by hour. Days into months. It was a physical sensation, like letting out the string of a kite. Except that the string was coming from my center.

I think people might think, oh, I don't want to approach the big famous author because it's embarrassing, but then they think for two seconds about it and realize, this is, like, a toilet bowl reader.

but I am not here ironically; I am here sincerely.

I tend to really enjoy being swept up in fiction. I love a good story and I admire fiction authors.

My instinct was always have your gun in your hand. Especially when you are telling somebody to do something. But, in fact, the police academy discourages this. They feel your gun should rarely, if ever, be brought out of its holster. Most certainly not when children are involved, which is exactly when I saw myself using my gun most often. A truant teenager loitering outside a movie theater is going to be far more motivated to return to school when he has the barrel of a .45 pressed against his cheek.

You cannot be a prisoner of your past against your will. Because you can only live in the past inside your mind.