Novels begin, not on the page, but in meditation and day-dreaming - In thinking, not writing.

The appeal of writing is primarily the investigation of mystery.

You need so much energy and encouragement to write that if someone says something negative, some of that energy goes.

I'm sure all that you've heard is just the usual gossip, invented to injure feelings rather than illuminate truth.

I never really knew I wanted to 'be' a writer, but I was always writing from a very young age. It became more conscious as an ideal when I was in my twenties.

Why is humanism not the preeminent belief of humankind?

When I complete a novel I set it aside, and begin work on short stories, and eventually another long work. When I complete that novel I return to the earlier novel and rewrite much of it. In the meantime the second novel lies in a desk drawer.