Self-disciplin e is necessary, but so is playfulness, flexibility, joy. When you stop demanding perfection of yourself, your writing desk will become a spacious place.

Once you figure out what's best for the story, take out the rest.

I didn’t realize that one tragedy can beget another, and another — bright-eyed disasters flooding out of a death hole like bats out of a cave.

Myth continues to be a valuable way to understand parts of our nature that we can't quantify.

It remains unbelievable to me that I have any readers beyond my own blood relations - it's a crazy, wild gift.

I think that's the real horror story for me, how little you can ever really know about your own motivations. How in the dark we all are about the concerns and the contents of our minds.

Regret is a pilgrimage back to the place where I was free to choose.