If you don't have people that the reader cares about and stories that are gripping, you've got nothing.

Technology makes everyone feel old. A laptop is old after two years. Someone always has something newer. Everyone seems to feel obsolete now, even the young.

Time’s a goon, right? You gonna let that goon push you around?” Scotty shook his head. “The goon won.

[I]t may be that a crowd at a particular moment of history creates the object to justify its gathering.

a swell of gratitude and appreciation for his assistant, as opposed to the murderous rage he felt toward the rest of his staff

I don't really know where my ideas come from. I start with a time and a place. That's what I need to get started, and an intellectual question.

I hope to keep writing journalism as long as I write fiction; it's afforded me such amazing adventures and opportunities. It does take a lot of time, so it's hard to do both at once, but I try to do a big journalism piece every couple of years, and I'll hopefully continue with that.