We all have found ourselves in awkward, embarrassing situations, often brought on by ourselves - thinking we are saying something clever, for example, when it turns out to sound really mean or stupid. Those are the kind of embarrassing situations that we could have avoided. "Welcome to the human race," is about the only comfort we can give ourselves.

Since no one really knows what or who God is, or whether God is at all, why can't God be hope?

Once I have the idea for a story. I start collecting all kinds of helpful information and storing it in three-ring notebooks. For example, I may see a picture of a man in a magazine and say, 'That's exactly what the father in my book looks like!'...I save everything that will help--maps, articles, hand-jotted notes, bits of dialogue from conversations that I overhear.

The first draft is just a skeleton-just bare bones. It's like the very first rehearsal of a play, where the director moves the actors around mechanically to get a feel of the action.

It's what they say to do when you're depressed, you know. Walk in someone else's shoes for a while, and your own won't feel so tight.

There were so many of these moments that could never be captured accurately, even in the camcorder, only in the heart.

Writing, for me, is the best occupation I can think of, and there is nothing in the world I would rather do.