Zero wasnt worried, " When you spend your whole life living in a shole", he said, "the only way you can go is up.

I didn't become a good writer until I learned how to rewrite. And I don't just mean fixing spelling and adding a comma. I rewrite each of my books five or six times, and each time I change huge portions of the story.

You make the decision: Whom did God punish?

My parents played bridge, and I remember being fascinated watching them. I sometimes got a chance to sit in on a hand, which I loved. But then I didn't actually play on my own for about 30 years.

Part of me becomes the characters I'm writing about. I think readers feel like they are there, the way I am, as a result.

Rattlesnakes would be a lot more dangerous if they didn't have the rattle.

The media tends to portray the teenage world as one where drinking and sex is taken for granted. In fact, I think most teenagers don't drink, are unsure of themselves, and feel awkward around members of the opposite sex.