The challenge for those of us who care about our faith and about a hurting world is to tell stories which will carry the words of grace and hope in their bones and sinews and not wear them like fancy dress.

It is always sad to write about prejudice, but sometimes when we see it being played out in the lives of fictional characters, we can recognize it in our own lives.

As I look back on what I have written, I can see that the very persons who have taken away my time are those who have given me something to say.

It's like the smarter you are, the more things can scare you.

We humans have had from time unknown the compulsion to name things and thus to be able to deal with them. The name we give to something shapes our attitude toward it. And in ancient thought the name itself has power, so that to know someone's name is to have a certain power over him. And in some societies, as you know, there was a public name and a real or secret name, which would not be revealed to others.

Kids often ask me if characters are real or made up - and I always tell them, 'I hope they're real but I made them up.'

Hope ... is not a feeling; it is something you do.