For David Parker and Daniel Parker, with the respect and admiration of their father, who grew up with them.

This is not a screenplay. I don't do twenty drafts. I'm not going to show this to you until it's published or accepted for publication. You can make whatever suggestions you want, but I probably will ignore them entirely.

If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it.

Teaching is too strong a word for whatever it was I did at Northeastern University

Joan organizes our social life, and on weekends I follow her around.

Very few of my books are about who stole the Maltese Falcon

I think at this stage in my life I have learned that there are any number of things that men will never know, and can never hope to know, about women.