I feel blessed in the knowledge that I probably belong to the last generation that will remember what we call "traditional America."

Every rejection is incremental payment on your dues that in some way will be translated back into your work.

I sometimes subscribe to the belief that all historical events occur simultaneously, like a dream in the mind of God. Perhaps it is only man who views time sequentially and tries to impose a solar calendar upon it. What if other people, both dead and unborn, are living out their lives in the same space we occupy, without our knowledge or consent?" The Glass Rainbow, p. 138

Success, like fashion, is a fickle companion and can leave one in the wink of an eye.

And every good artist knows that the gift comes from somewhere else, and it's there for a reason, and that's to make the world a better place.

When people make a contract with the devil and give him an air-conditioned office to work in, he doesn't go back home easily.

Today, there are more opportunities for writers in terms of access to larger success, but it's more difficult to publish a literary novel in the lower ranges. In other words, you almost have to hit a home run. You can hit a triple, maybe, but nobody's interested in a single.