Life didn’t go how I had planned, but I couldn’t have planned a better life. Somewhere in between the beginning and eternity, I fought the war that we all must fight–the journey that in taking, forces us to come face to face with our own realities.

The past is a very determined ghost, haunting every chance it gets.

People like to complain about the state of contemporary literature, but I can only assume they don't read it very widely.

The city has to do what any citizen or family does, when you have a dream. You tighten your belt. You sacrifice some luxuries. Above all, you don't waste a dime.

It was a completely new feeling for me–like someone had just released a million, tiny butterflies loose in my stomach, and they were feverishly flying up into my head and making me lose my mind.

The first book we fall in love with shapes us every bit as much as the first person we fall in love with.

Writers would be warm, loyal, and otherwise terrific people-if only they'd stop writing.