What a midwesterner he was, a thoroughly unhip guy with his heart in the usual place, on the sleeve, in plain sight.

As my mother once said to me, ‘They’re quite crazy, dear – men are. What you look for is one of them whose insanity is large enough, and calm and generous enough, to include you.

When all the details fit in perfectly, something is probably wrong with the story.

In truth, there are only two realities: the one for people who are in love or love each other, and the one for people who are standing outside all that.

The truth is that I'm never sure how any of my books will be received, and because I can be thin-skinned, I try not to read too many reviews when a book first comes out.

I prefer short stories, but publishers would, of course, rather that writers produce novels, since novels are still more commercially viable.

When blame has been assigned, the story is over.