Eruptions of talent continue to happen in Haiti, in spite of everything.

It's amazing what happens when you stick yourself in a place and let things take their more or less natural course.

The smartest thing I did in law school: asking my future wife to go out dancing with me. The smartest thing I did when practicing law: quitting. The smartest thing I've done in writing: following my own head and writing what I wanted to write, and nothing but.

Somewhere along the way America became a giant mall with a country attached.

I'm a writer, not an editor, and though the editing rarely cut into my writing time, it did take away from that walking-around-thinking-about-it-when-you're-not-thinking-about-it time that I think is important for writers. When you're half-thinking about what you're working on while driving, cooking . . . just letting things sift and settle, come to you.

It took me 10 years to write a story that pleased me - that I could look at after it was published and not cringe.

If you could figure out how to live with family then you'd gone a long way toward finding your peace.