My love is to tell a story but I like stories that evolve from character, from the nature of the individuals involved.

Curiosity is what separates us from the cabbages. It's accelerative. The more we know, the more we want to know.

I'm very aware how many distractions the reader has in life today, how many good reasons there are to put the book down.

I had been writing for about twelve years. I knew pretty well how you could find things out, but I had never been trained in an academic way how to go about the research.

Real success is finding your life work in the work that you love. That's it. Don't worry about making a living, don't worry about popularity or fame. Make what you do ... count more than what you own.

I love all sides of the work but that doesn't mean it isn't hard.

George P. A. Healy; "I knew no one in France, I was utterly ignorant of the language, I did not know what I should do when once there; but I was not yet one-and-twenty, and I had a great stock of courage, of inexperience—which is sometimes a great help—and a strong desire to be my very best.