The name we give to something shapes our attitude toward it.

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.

Read for fun, read for information, read in order to understand yourself and other people with quite different ideas. Learn about the world beyond your door. Learn to be compassionate and grow in wisdom. Books can help us in all these ways.

I'm sure my first nine years have had a powerful influence on the kind of books I write.

Lord, let me heed the angels you put in my path.

Reading has made such a profound difference to my life. I'm sure I became a writer because of the power of literature in my own life.

This is what art is all about. It is weaving fabric from the feathers you have plucked from your own breast. But no one must ever see the process - only the finished bolt of goods. They must never suspect that that crimson thread running through the pattern is blood.