The deadlines are much, much longer with books. When I was a reporter, a lot of times I'd come in at 8:30 a.m., get an assignment right away, interview somebody, turn the story in by 9:30, and have the finished story in the paper that landed on my desk by noon.

Nothing was more valuable than the printed word.

bitter is a bad way to live!

Amazing, Yetta thought. Back home I couldn't have chosen my own husband. And here I'm thinking about choosing presidents, governors, mayors, laws.

I was lucky enough not to face any required summer reading lists until I went to college. So I still think of summer as the best time to read for fun.

Governments will rise, and governments will fall, and man will do evil to man, and all we can do is turn our hearts to good.

Generally I finish a first draft in 2-6 months, then I set it aside for a while so that when I come back to it I can read it with fresh eyes and figure out how to improve it.