Sometimes if you want to know for sure whether the stove is hot, the only way to find out is to touch it.

The third guy was different. He was what you got when you ate squirrels for four generations. Smarter than a rat and tougher than a goat, and jumpier than either one.

I wanted readers to be genuinely unsure as to whether she's telling the truth or lying. It meant making her partly sympathetic, and partly unsympathetic, which wasn't easy.

I don't care about the little guy. I just hate the big guy. I hate big smug people who think they can get away with things.

Don't get it right - get it WRITTEN!

Writing is showbusiness for shy people. That's how I see it.

Practically any Western has a homesteader in trouble, and a mysterious rider shows up off the range, solves the problem over two or three days, and then rides off into the sunset.