Money. The ultimate motivation. The ultimate way of keeping score.

That's the irony in the work: the best stories are the worst things that happen. My best times were somebody else's worst.

I view people two ways. They're either eye-for-an-eye people or they are turn-the-cheek people.

You know what I did after I wrote my first novel? I shut up and wrote twenty-three more.

Don't go growing a conscience on me," I said. "I've been down that road. It doesn't lead you to anything good.

I think the only boundaries are individual and personal. A writer should be free to write about anything he or she wants to, including the twin towers. I have made small references to 9/11 in my past two books.

The character can never be static from book to book. People might think you just come up with a new plot and stick this guy in. Well, he has to be as new as the plot every time.