There is no writer's block in a newsroom. There's only unemployment block.

Every writer scrounges for inspiration in different places, and there's no shame in raiding the headlines. It's necessary, in fact, when attempting contemporary satire. Sharp-edged humor relies on topical reference points.

My books are character-driven. They're not driven by the story.

The first rule of hurricane coverage is that every broadcast must begin with palm trees bending in the wind.

Garcia wondered why people with JESUS stickers on their bumper always drove twenty miles per hour under the speed limit. If God was my co-pilot, he thought, I'd be doing a hundred and twenty.

Nobody with an IQ higher than emergency-room temperature could ever believe that 'death panels' would be appointed to nudge the elderly toward euthanasia. Yet for idle entertainment, it's hard to beat Sarah Palin's ignorant nattering on the subject.

My humour has always come from anger, but I have to make sure I don't just get angry and jump on a soapbox.