When you legislate personal belief, you're in violation of freedom of religion.

Nothing moves at the Hotel New Hampshire! We're screwed down here-for life!

The characters in my novels, from the very first one, are always on some quixotic effort of attempting to control something that is uncontrollable - some element of the world that is essentially random and out of control.

This was not of the nature of a Christlike lesson for Owen Meany to learn, as he lay in the manger, that someone you hate can give you a hard-on.

What a phrase that is: 'that explains everything!' I know better than to think anything 'explains everything' today.

Along the (writing) way accidents happen, detours get taken... But these are not "divine" accidents; I don't believe in those. I believe you have constructive accidents en route through a novel only because you have mapped a clear way. If you have confidence that you have a clear direction to take, you always have confidence to explore other ways; if they prove to be mere digressions, you'll recognize that and make the necessary revisions. The more you know about a book, the freer you can be to fool around. The less you know, the tighter you get.

when however small a measure of jealousy is mixed with misunderstanding, there is always going to be trouble.