Don't worry about what your mother thinks of your language.

Really, when I write a book I'm the only one I have to please. That's the beauty of writing a book instead of a screenplay.

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.

Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.

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

Avoid prologues: they can be ­annoying, especially a prologue ­following an introduction that comes after a foreword.

I spent most of my dough on booze, broads and boats and the rest I wasted.