I imagined a life that turned out to be pretty much exactly like the one I've had. That fascinates me endlessly. I wake up many mornings, and it almost wouldn't surprise me if I woke up from it and it was all a dream.

Death came, Death went, but Commerce flowed Eternal.

But once an idea for a novel seizes a writer...well, it’s like an inner fire that at first warms you and makes you feel good but then begins to eat you alive, burn you up from within. You can’t just walk away from the fire; it keeps burning. The only way to put it out is to write the book.

Best thing that can happen to a man is a good woman.

I've got a long list of books I wish I'd never written-and I've kept them all out of print for the past 20 years.

I fell in love with her for her sense of humour. If she ever lost her sense of humour, I would have to dump her. Then I'd kill myself because I couldn't live without her.

I fall down on the side of free will, simply because if you look at where I came from, and what I was able to do in my life, what was able to happen.