Still when I lost her, I lost sight of any landmark that might have led me someplace happier, to some more populated or congenial life.

The first duty of the novelist is to entertain. It is a moral duty. People who read your books are sick, sad, traveling, in the hospital waiting room while someone is dying. Books are written by the alone for the alone.

For me - showing a half-finished manuscript is tricky. Just as a bird will get spooked and abandon her eggs if some outside party comes around and makes too much noise or pokes around the nest too intrusively - well, that's what it's like for me if I show work too early and I get a lot of editorial suggestions at the wrong time.

There's nothing like having a sympathetic reader who asks the right questions, who understands what you're trying to achieve and only wants to make it better.

After all, the appeal to stop being yourself, even for a little while, is very great

Death is the mother of beauty,” said Henry. “And what is beauty?” “Terror.

All those layers of silence upon silence.