I seriously doubt I would ever have written the first story had I not been a lawyer. I never dreamed of being a writer. I wrote only after witnessing a trial.

An outline is crucial. It saves so much time. When you write suspense, you have to know where you're going because you have to drop little hints along the way. With the outline, I always know where the story is going. So before I ever write, I prepare an outline of 40 or 50 pages.

In one long glorious acknowledgment of failure, he laid himself bare before God.

One thing that drives me nuts... well, let me ask you, when writers write do they not use quotation marks anymore?

Shame was an emotion he had abandoned years earlier. Addicts know no shame. You disgrace yourself so many times you become immune to it.

The good thing about writing fiction is that you can get back at people.

Reading is by far the most successful pursuit of happiness.