If I'd learned nothing else, it was this: If you want to be a great writer, be a man. If you can't be a man, write like one.

I am deeply Catholic and always will be, but I'm no longer a member of the church. I left in 2003 because of the sex abuse scandal.

Love is a luxury. It's something that people are allowed to indulge in when they're not simply trying to survive and keep other people alive.

Red Sox fans have been pushed to the brink over the years, but that's how faith grows stronger.

Memories are like water.

Love is selfless, it is a weakness, a giving in, a constant falling.

Each genre has something to teach me about the others. Not all the lessons are transferable, but many of the most important ones are.