Because there was only one thing worse than dying. And that was knowing you were going to die. And where. And how. (“Death Ship”)

When you sleep, your dream world is as real to you as life, isn’t it?

In a world of monotonous horror there could be no salvation in wild dreaming.

When I'm writing, especially when I'm writing in first person, I don't think about the characterization, or how they are going to express themselves, I just express my own approach to these things. I think most writers can never divorce themselves from their private lives and personas; they are the ones that are writing. And the more they remove themselves from their own persona, the more, perhaps, mechanical the work becomes.

I had to write about realistic circumstances. Thats the way my brain works. And I think that gave me a sort of place in the field.

After a while, though, even the deepest sorrow faltered, even the most penetrating despair lost its scalpel edge.

God, how impossible life is without money. Nothing can ever overcome it, it's everything when it's anything. How can I write in peace with endless worries of money, money, money? (“Disappearing Act”)