Writers, some of us, may tend to see things before other people do, things that are right there but aren't noticed in the way that a writer might notice.

What terrorists gain, novelists lose.

A shrewd person would one day start a religion based on coincidence, if he hasn't already, and make a million.

The figure of the gunman in the window was inextricable from the victim and his history. This sustained Oswald in his cell. It gave him what he needed to live. The more time he spent in a cell, the stronger he would get. Everybody knew who he was now.

Because friends have to be brutally honest with each other. I'd feel terrible if I didn't tell you what I was thinking, especially at a time like this

Eye contact was a delicate matter. A quarter second of a shared glance was a violation of agreements that made the city operational.

In my experience, writing a novel tends to create its own structure, its own demands, its own language, its own ending. So for much of the period in which I'm writing, I'm waiting to understand what's going to happen next, and how and where it's going to happen. In some cases, fairly early in the process, I do know how a book will end. But most of the time, not at all, and in this particular case, many questions are still unanswered, even though I've been working for months.