What is a family, after all, except memories? Haphazard and precious as the contents of a catch-all drawer in the kitchen.

Productivity is a relative matter. And it's really insignificant: What is ultimately important is a writer's strongest books.

My writing is full of lives I might have led.

No, the thing is, we all love storytelling, and as a writer you get to tell stories all the time.

Mark Twain was very unhappy with himself for various reasons. He was very unhappy with America of this time. He thought it was terrible we had no anti-lynching laws, and he was also a feminist, and he was also very concerned with anti-Semitism. He was a good man, but he was hard on himself.

Before I undertake a lengthy project, I have usually given much thought to it over a period of years. My files are filled with likely subjects - which perhaps, one day, I will develop.

Tragedy is the highest form of art.