I did go on safari in Kenya when I was 17, with my mother, stepfather and little brother, and I kept a careful journal of the experience that was very helpful in terms of my sensory impressions of Africa. I have traveled quite a bit at distinct times in my life, though now that I have kids I've settled down.

"See," Sasha muttered, eyeing the sun. 'It's mine."

And Alex understood that Scotty Hausmann did not exist. He was a word casing in human form: a shell whose essence has vanished.

Vinegar: that's what fear smells like.

Kissing Mother Superior, incompetent, hairball, poppy seeds, on the can.

Read at the level at which you want to write. Reading is the nourishment that feeds the kind of writing you want to do.

Reading is the nourishment that lets you do interesting work.