German readers are much like Brits or Americans: They read for the thrill of it, the occasional shudder down the spine, knowing it's not real - but looking over their shoulders anyway, just in case.

We've got one life and the older we get the more we come to realize how short it is.

A literary critic is someone who can't write, but who loves to show he would have been a wonderful writer if only he could!

There are lots of other things that I haven't done, places I haven't seen. So eventually I'll have to find time for those things while there still is time.

The Army was my bread and butter.

And I have to consider myself fortunate, because there are plenty of writers who spend most of a lifetime looking for that certain something without ever finding it.

I'll know when the ideas aren't fresh anymore. And I'll know when writing doesn't give me a thrill anymore.