Only after disaster can we be resurrected. It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything. Nothing is static, everything is evolving, everything is falling apart.

Where would Jesus be if no one had written the gospels?

Ideas come at any moment -- except when you demand them. Most ideas come while I'm physically active, at the gym, with friends, gardening, so I always carry pen and paper. My first draft is always written in longhand. But once the first dozen chapters, more like short stories, are written, then momentum builds until I can't leave the project until it's done.

What kind of dining set defines me as a person?

I might be a touch of a sadist and a little bit jejune... but at least I'm not a victim, not any longer. I hope. I hope, therefore I am.

Let's all embrace someone near us. Pick someone special to you. Tell this someone how you feel.

You become smart when you don't need to quote someone anymore." I am still stupid: I quoted Chuck Palahiniuk