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.

In other words, the people who populate my books are more than caricatures.

She was reflecting back on a truth she had learned over the years: that people heard what they wanted to hear, saw what they wanted, believed what they wanted.

If you have a craftsman's command of the language and basic writing techniques you'll be able to write - as long as you know what you want to say

It means working harder to do the research but I don't really mind - I don't think I have what it takes to chase criminals through back alleys and wade through blood at crime scenes.

I like the way words go together and I like the gamesmanship of writing poetry. It is such a challenge.

Sometimes you can't be what you ought to be, you can't have what you ought to have.