One thing living in Japan did for me was to make me feel that what is left out of a work of art is as important as, if not more important than, what is put in.

One thing living in Japan did for me was to make me feel that what is left out of a work of art is as important as, if not more important than, what is put in.

Once a book is published, it no longer belongs to me. My creative task is done. The work now belongs to the creative mind of my readers. I had my turn to make of it what I would, now it is their turn.

Our fundamental task as human beings is to seek out connections-to exercise our imaginations.

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

What a gift of grace to be able to take the chaos from within and from it create some semblance of order.

We do have trouble dealing with death, but it's the one thing that is guaranteed we are all going to have to do, and we are going to have to face it many times before we die ourselves.