It so happens that the major relationships in the novel [The Kite Runner] are between men, dictated not by any sort of prejudice or discomfort with female characters, but rather by the demands of the narrative.

You say their stories, it is gift they give you.

I also felt The Kite Runner was a story that would lend itself well to a visual retelling in a graphic novel.

I wanted to write about Afghanistan before the Soviet war because that is largely a forgotten period in modern Afghan history.

The impact had cut your upper lip in two, he had said, clean down the middle. Clean down the middle. Like a harelip.

I would give them (aspiring writers) the oldest advice in the craft: Read and write. Read a lot. Read new authors and established ones, read people whose work is in the same vein as yours and those whose genre is totally different. You've heard of chain-smokers. Writers, especially beginners, need to be chain-readers. And lastly, write every day. Write about things that get under your skin and keep you up at night.

some stories don't need telling