It is curious how believable I can be when I criticize myself, how unconvincing when I give myself praise.

when you are dealing with art, any kind of art, your pleasure in making it is what matters most.

Description needs to slide into a story like a snake through grass - silently, almost invisibly, without calling attention to itself. It should enrich every story moment without slowing the action.

Writing the opening lines of a story is a bit like starting to ski at the steepest part of a hill. You must have all your skills under control from the first instant.

It is the nature of stories to leave out far more than they include.

my experience as a fiction writer tells me that the deeper I look into myself, the more universal is the experience I find there.

Where do storytellers find the wisdom to discover their own stories? From no place more mysterious than their own hearts.