No lepidopterist's collection in the entire world...full if iridescent wings, is worth the life of a single butterfly.

The very essence of literature is the war between emotion and intellect, between life and death. When literature becomes too intellectual - when it begins to ignore the passions, the emotions - it becomes sterile, silly, and actually without substance.

A story to me means a plot where there is some surprise... Because this is how life is full of surprises.

The genuine writer cannot ignore the fact that the family is losing its spiritual foundation.

But if we have people who have the power to tell a story, there will always be readers.

If Moses had been paid newspaper rates for the Ten Commandments, he might have written the Two Thousand Commandments.

I know as a writer how valuable a tool is the wastebasket. Perhaps God throws away many experiments before He finds the right expression. Perhaps we are the discards - or we could be the part He keeps. This mystery is what keeps us all going, to see what happens in the next chapter.