I'm interested in where we are, where we're going, where we've come from.

I never base characters on real people. There are people who do that but I really don't know how to do it.

I did not know that history is like a blood stain that keeps on showing on the wall no matter how many new owners take possession, no matter how many times we pint over it.

Then I fell in love and everything went to hell.

I think it's really boring, from the point of view of the novelist, to write about yourself. Tedious. But that's very hard to explain to people who really don't believe in the possibility of invention.

It's like standing on the edge of a cliff. This is especially true of the first draft. Every day you're making up the earth you're going to stand on.

Swimming always cleans your soul