My characters have to talk, or they're out. They audition in early scenes. If they can't talk, they're given less to do, or thrown out.

If you take a few days to write an outline, you're just making up scenes that you think will work, that you think will be interesting. But as you write it, other ideas occur - better ideas that have to do with what you're writing.

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

I get letters. I get several a week, I think. A lot of people want a picture, a lot of people just want an autograph.

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.

Never use the words 'suddenly' or 'all hell broke loose.'

I never see my bad guys as simply bad. They want pretty much the same thing that you and I want: they want to be happy.