How fascinating to a child are words: the shapes, sounds, textures and mysterious meanings of words; the way words link together into elastic patterns called "sentences." And these sentences into paragraphs, and beyond.

If you explore beneath shyness or party chit-chat, you can sometimes turn a dull exchange into an intriguing one. I've found this to be particularly true in the case of professors or intellectuals, who are full of fascinating information, but need encouragement before they'll divulge it.

Before you can write a novel you have to have a number of ideas that come together. One idea is not enough.

If you are a writer you locate yourself behind a wall of silence and no matter what you are doing, driving a car or walking or doing housework you can still be writing, because you have that space.

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

I could EAT YOUR HEART & asshole you'd never know it.

It feels good, honey, but it isn't love.