I have to deal with seven ex-stray dogs, and one ex-stray cat. One dog is nearing nineteen years old. Before I go to teach, he likes for me to tell him bedtime stories.

Keep a small can of WD-40 on your desk-away from any open flames-to remind yourself that if you don't write daily, you will get rusty.

Don't try to outguess what's going on in publishing, and write what you want to write.

I don't smoke because I like to do so, but because it makes me pay cigarette taxes, which helps build roads and water supplies.

Gilles Deleuze believed that every society needed a madman so we could feel better about ourselves. I do my best to fill that role.

One day we will all cherish the memory of having blacksmiths on every corner.

You do not have to explain every single drop of water contained in a rain barrel. You have to explain one drop-H2O. The reader will get it.