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.'

I do know that I need solitude, not only to write but to nourish myself (being, like most writers, an introvert) so that I do keep trying to write.

Many people are angry when they make a mistake, but very few people have the sense to be sorry.

Mandarin ducks mate for life and will die of loneliness if separated from their chosen mate.

Some folks are natural born kickers. They can always find a way to turn disaster into butter.

You don't have to fight dragons to write books. You just have to live deeply the life you've been given.

The difference between writing a story and simply relating past events is that a story, in order to be acceptable, must have shape and meaning. It is the old idea that art is the bringing of order out of chaos.