I liked the challenge of writing in a very concise structure in which both meaning and form are important.

Certainly going back to Sherlock Holmes we have a tradition of forensic science featured in detective stories.

People with children and people with their own business always pick up a ringing phone.

I think a lot of young aspiring writers get misdirected; they think 'I ought to write this, even though I enjoy reading that'. What you have to do is write what you enjoy reading.

In the shaded portions where the two spheres of different lives meet, certain fundamentals- moods, loves, fears, angers- can't be hidden. That's the contract.

I've often said that there's no such thing as writer's block; the problem is idea block. When I find myself frozen-whether I'm working on a brief passage in a novel or brainstorming about an entire book-it's usually because I'm trying to shoehorn an idea into the passage or story where it has no place.

I write pretty much anywhere - on planes, in hotel rooms, anywhere in my house.