Gossip. The more you talk about why people do things, the more ideas you have about how the world works.

When a novel has 200,000 words, then it is possible for the reader to experience 200,000 delights, and to turn back to the first page of the book and experience them all over again, perhaps more intensely.

Your sons weren't made to like you. That's what grandchildren are for.

Horse racing is really much more intimidating than anything having to do with literature. When I had horses at the racetrack, I would wake up in terror in a way that I would never wake up while working on a novel.

Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist.

But what truly horsey girls discover in the end is that boyfriends, husbands, children, and careers are the substitute-for horses

There are several methods for introducing your children to driving, and all of them are bad. Probably the worst is to put it off.