It was 1943. The U.S. had already entered World War II, so I decided to join the army.

After seven years of writing - and working many jobs to support my family - I finally got published.

Keep out of this," Lucian said. "I'm not smiting anybody." "You're showing mercy." Catch-a-Tick nodded. "That's heroic, too. But not as good as smiting.

If I do find pride, I'll not find it in what I was or what I am, but what I may become. Not in my birth, but in myself.

If writers learn more from their books than do readers, perhaps I may have begun to learn.

We don't need to have just one favorite. We keep adding favorites. Our favorite book is always the book that speaks most directly to us at a particular stage in our lives. And our lives change. We have other favorites that give us what we most need at that particular time. But we never lose the old favorites. They're always with us. We just sort of accumulate them.

My concern is how we learn to be genuine human beings.