I started off at the high level, in the slick magazines, but they didn't use my name, they used house names. Anyway, then I went downhill to the pulps, then downhill further to the comics.

I know an awful lot of Hollywood people, who are so self-important, I can't understand it.

Hemingway hated me. I sold 200 million books, and he didn't. Of course most of mine sold for 25 cents, but still... you look at all this stuff with a grain of salt.

If the public likes you, you're good. Shakespeare was a common, down-to-earth writer in his day.

Where I am they can smell out a hurricane. My house survived Hurricane Hazel, but it didn't get past Hugo.

I'm a country boy. I hate New York. But that's where things happen, so I use it as a base for stories, I know enough about it. But I have to keep going back there.

My father was Catholic, my mother was Protestant, and because of that I got Christened in both churches, so I've got all these names... but my Dad always called me Mick.