I give novels as gifts, and there is nothing I like to receive more as a gift.

I don't know the nuts and bolts of writing. I studied medicine. I was a pre-med nerd. So everything I learned, I know about writing is very instinctive.

some stories don't need telling

There is only one sin. and that is theft... when you tell a lie, you steal someones right to the truth.

The short of it is, as an aspiring writer, there is nothing as damaging to your credibility as saying that you don't like to read.

If thou art indeed my father, then hast thou stained thy sword in the life-blood of thy son. And thous didst it of thine obstinacy. For I sought to turn thee unto love, and I implored of thee thy name, for I thought to behold in thee the tokens recounted of my mother. But I appealed unto thy heart in vain, and now is the time gone for meeting.

about clichés. Avoid them like the plague.