Parents spend a lot of time talking over kids. My son went through a vocabulary burst as I was writing The Bear. I thought, What if I just stopped and listened?

I love the Internet, and I love wasting time on the Internet - even though it sometimes ends up being not being a waste of time.

How do you solve a mystery? How do you write a book? The techniques for starting both are surprisingly similar. Find an intriguing question and, pen and dagger tucked under cloak, search for clues.

I would get a lot of writing done if I lived in isolation in a cave under a swamp.

The feat of surviving is directly related to the capacity of the survivor.

The body needs food, warmth and water, but your heart needs more.

A young woman hiking alone in the mountains sounds dangerous. In the pre-cell phone era maybe it was, but Ill stop short of calling it foolish.