I like reading history, and actually most authors enjoy the research part because it is, after all, easier than writing.

I wanted to be some kind of captain of industry. Then I wanted to be in advertising, and then I wanted to be a newspaper reporter.

I imagined it. I wrote it. But I guess I never thought I'd see it.

Trusting someone was like holding a little water in your cupped hands - it was so easy to spill the water, and you could never get it back.

One of the hardest things for me, now that I'm famous, is finding people who can read my stuff and give me an honest critique.

After a certain point, most people, including editors, will tell you everything you do is great.

I read mostly fiction, a lot of 19th-century novels.