I'm not going to write for posterity. I'm going to write to make a buck.

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

I always felt, you don’t have a good time doin crime, you may as well find a job.

It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to sound like it does.

It's my attempt to remain invisible, not distract the reader from the story with obvious writing.

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.

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