In every thriller written about Washington, particularly after 9/11, there are good guys and there are bad guys, and there's no gray area at all.

When a poor man gives something, that is a sacrifice indeed. When a rich man gives something, it hardly rises to the same level.

It's not the beginning or the destination that counts. It's the ride in between.

But if I worried too much about publishers' expectations, I'd probably paralyze myself and not be able to write anything.

The human spirit was the strongest medicine on earth. And sometimes all it needed was a little encouragement to pull off a miracle.

I look for material that both interest me and challenges me. If I am drawn to the material and I have to work hard at it, the characters and the plots reflect the hours and hours of research.

Depending on the situation, sometimes you can know a person better in ten minutes than someone you have crossed paths with all your life.