Once upon a time there was what there was, and if nothing had happened there would be nothing to tell.

The thing I like so much about short stories is that there isn't as much of an investment of time so I'm free to experiment more. If it doesn't work out, I've only lost a week or two of work. If I screw up a novel I've lost at least a year's worth of work. But the nice thing is that those experiments with short stories can be carried over to novels when the experiments do work.

There are few joys to compare with the telling of a well-told tale.

Our lives are stories, and the stories we have to give to each other are the most important. No one has a story too small and all are of equal stature. We each tell them in different ways, through different mediums—and if we care about each other, we'll take the time to listen.

You can't stand up to the night until you understand what's hiding in its shadows.

Lies were like having a pregnant rabbit. One day you had one, but before you knew it, there were rabbits all over the place.

Everybody's got the potential for great good and great wrong in them, but it's the choices we make that define who we really are.