Like it or not, we either add to the darkness of indifference and out-and-out evil which surrounds us or we light a candle to see by.

The novelist helps us to see things we might not notice otherwise.

My protagonists, male and female, are me.

I used to feel guilty about spending morning hours working on a book; about fleeing to the brook in the afternoon. It took several summers of being totally frazzled by September to make me realize that this was a false guilt. I'm much more use to family and friends when I'm not physically and spiritually depleted than when I spend my energies as though they were unlimited. They are not. The time at the typewriter and the time at the brook refresh me and put me into a more workable perspective.

Don't be afraid..." We need this reassurance. Even for those of us who believe implicitly in angels, to be confronted by one is an awesome thing."

I knew that the moment I started worrying about whether or not I was good enough for the job, I wouldn't be able to do it.

I believe that each work of art, whether it is a work of great genius, or something very small, comes to the artist and says, "Here I am. Enflesh me. Give birth to me."