The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in.

I used to be able to write five pages a day, every day, no problem. Now a good day is five or four pages, and that's from 9:30 A.M. until 6 P.M.

A friend of mine who is in the publishing business knew I was writing a book, and he said, 'Have you said anything yet about the good guy? Because I know you spend so much time with the bad guys.' Because they're fun. So then you have to make the good guy fun, in order to compete. That's the challenge.

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.

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

Bad guys are not bad guys twenty-four hours a day.

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