There's always time to read. Don't trust a writer who doesn't read. It's like eating food prepared by a cook who doesn't eat.

I'm at the age most people are sending their kids off to college.

There are, of course, an infinite number of places where one is not, yet only one place where one actually is.

Children can be happy when their parents are miserable. But a parent is never happier than her unhappiest child.

The competition for the future of crime fiction is fierce, as it should be, but don't take your eyes off Craig McDonald. He's wily, talented and-rarest of the rare-a true original. He writes melancholy poetry that actually has melancholy poets wandering around, but don't turn your backs on them, either. I am always eager to see what he's going to do next.

There's a serendipity to real life that the Internet can't duplicate. Do you use the library? For anything? Well, sometimes you end up picking up the book next to the one you were looking for, and it's that book that changes your life.

I adore the work of Stephen Sondheim. I like musicales in general. They make surprisingly great running tapes.