Being a Boy Scout saved my life. I was a bookish, introverted kid, shy and withdrawn, unhappy and easily bullied. I was also gay, although I didn't know it yet. I should've been miserable. But being a scout got me out of myself and into the world.

We’re happier when the assholes are villains.

Stories have the ability to take us inside all kinds of life.

There was no point in doing art if you were going to be second-rate.

It's often said that writers sometimes need to go around the block a few times to get where they're going.

I learned years ago that love could be temporary and still be love.

Imaginative writers often project their own monsters and meanings on basic facts.