It is a little out of touch to presume that someone wants to follow your every observation and insight over the course of hundreds of pages without any sort of payoff. That's why writing isn't a one-way street. You have to give something back: an interesting plot, a surprise, a laugh, a moment of tenderness, a mystery for the reader to piece together.

We've come under the influence of television, where in all honesty we can follow a show that could just get cancelled midway through the season and the entire plotline never resolves itself.

I've never had a mentor. I've always wanted one. I'm actually really disappointed that nobody took my under their wing.

The death drive is parasitic. It runs off of other drives, leeching off of them.

I don't think secrets are a bad thing. I think there's this idea that everything needs to be transparent in order for it to be free.

I really believe there is something in the nature of a democracy that naturally leads people to distrust the government, to assume because a democracy is built by people just like themselves that there must be secret plots and cover-ups and wizards behind the scenes running the machine.

Going out into the country after living in the city is a loss of control.