She says what holds their marriage together is that she feels too damn sorry for him to ask for a divorce.

When we don't allow ourselves to hope, we don't allow ourselves to have purpose. Without purpose, without meaning, life is dark. We've no light within, and we're just living to die.

In a book, even the real bastards can't hurt you. And you can never loose a friend you make in a book. When you get to a sad part, no one's there to see you cry. Or wonder why you don't cry when you should.

I work on one page, revising and polishing until I can't make it better, then move on to the next. Some pages might get 20 or more drafts before I move on.

Fear is a hammer, and when the people are beaten finally to the conviction that their existence hangs by a frayed thread, they will be led where they need to go.

Human beings can always be relied upon to exert, with vigor, their God-given right to be stupid.

A plot without action is like pasta without garlic, like Dolly Parton without cleavage, and like a writer without his similes.