Somehow our devils are never quite what we expect when we meet them face to face.

It's much different today than it was during the Cold War. The CIA is not the subject of many books anymore. But that might change, because of international terrorism and Red China.

Stephen King once told me he liked my writing. And that was great.

It's good to stay as close to real life as you can, and then kind of dress it up.

Kate had never been married, so she had no way of knowing if I was a normal husband. This has been good for our marriage.

I enjoy the presence of a woman in the house for brief periods of time. They fall into two categories: the organizers and the slobs. There’s probably a third category—the naggers, who try to get you to do things, but I’ve never run into one of those. Oddly, I have no preference regarding oganizers or slobs, as long as they don’t try to pick my clothes for me. Basically, all women are nurturers and healers, and all men are mental patients to varying degrees. It works fine if people stick to their fated roles. But nobody does.

...the most common cause of death among alpha males was ego.