It was easy not to think of my future; I didn't have one.

Anybody who doesn't know that politics is crime has got a few screws loose.

The truth of the matter is, you lose a parent to murder when you're 10 years old, and in fact at the time of the murder you hate your lost parent, my mother in my case.

I am a writer. I could not afford to take 15 months off from my writing career to play detective.

I work within the framework of a very concerted, purely driven Protestant Christian mindset. I had dark early circumstances. I went inward. I have a sturdy will. I have a big heart. I'm a decent guy. And I have a great gift. It's blunted me to the world in many ways.

You get up in the morning because you might meet a woman. And if you stay at home by yourself, alone, you will not meet a woman.

Other people, some other writers, will win certain accolades or sell in far greater numbers than me - and I'm a legitimate best-selling author - but I live and die for the work. That's thrilling to me. It's thrilling that I do for others what certain writers did for me when I was a kid.