I usually start with something that has some energy, like a compressed character or a situation that's wound up like a spring. Then all I have to do is let it go, let its energy carry the story. And that may not turn out to be the beginning of the book.

Don't attach yourself to anyone who shows you the least bit of attention because you're lonely. Lonliness is the human condition. No one is ever going to fill that space. The best thing you can do it know yourself... know what you want.

The night crackled ... Everything had turned to static electricity in the heat. I combed my hair to watch the sparks fly from the ends.

My house is modern, but I like my writing room to be old fashioned. I write on a little wooden secretary desk.

No matter where I was, my compass pointed west. I would always know what time it was in California.

No matter how unappealing, each of them imagines he is somehow worthy.

A cliché is like a coin that has been handled too much. Once language has been overly handled, it no longer leaves a clear imprint.