Working as an editor was like being a professional reader, and the better I became at reading the better I became at writing.

It's really hard to get a book published, even a good book, but the better the book is the better chance it has of eventually catching someone's attention.

An editor is like a professional reader, and as I became a better reader, I also became a better writer.

We were a different kind of Christian, the quiet, reasonable kind, a breed embarrassed by the mention of miracles.

I really believe that fiction functions best when stories are allowed to develop in an organic way, so I didn't set out to deliver a specific message.

It requires a certain kind of bravery, I suppose, to choose the status quo. There's a certain boldness to inaction.

My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that imagined reader, which is a crucial part of learning to tell stories.