I have fun writing. I don't make it a chore. I don't have to struggle with it.

I'm very much aware in the writing of dialogue, or even in the narrative too, of a rhythm. There has to be a rhythm with it … Interviewers have said, you like jazz, don’t you? Because we can hear it in your writing. And I thought that was a compliment.

At the time I begin writing a novel, the last thing I want to do is follow a plot outline. To know too much at the start takes the pleasure out of discovering what the book is about.

I started out of course with Hemingway when I learned how to write. Until I realized Hemingway doesn't have a sense of humor. He never has anything funny in his stories.

I still read Hemingway. I still read his short stories because they're so good. He doesn't waste any words.

I once saw Dizzy Gillespie at a live show, and it made me want to go home immediately and start writing.

To me, a book is a book, an electronic device is not, and love of books was the reason I started writing.