As a writer, I can live somewhat independently, occupying nooks and crannies and finding meaning there. I can even live in my mind a good portion of most days.

I thought that you had to learn to write by yourself and if you couldn't do it, then you were out of luck.

I wasn't writing stories with the intention of creating a particular collection. I simply wrote stories, and then discovered common themes among a good number of them.

I was unhappy and I couldn't figure out what was the matter. And he told me to go take a writing course. And I didn't even know that one could learn to write in writing courses.

I can't personally drink or fight too much nowadays because I have to be perky in the morning in order to write.

I'm of the people in the bar and the people in my stories. They are my tribe.

I'm not much interested in my own self when I write. I'm interested in what I observe out there, what's going on around me.