He hated to think of his own life stretching ahead of him that way, a long succession of days and nights that were fine - not good, not bad, not great, not lousy, not exciting, not anything.

That's what Archie did - built a house nobody could anticipate a need for, except himself, a house that was invisible to everyone else.

And he did see--that life was rotten, that there were no heroes, really, and that you couldn't trust anybody, not even yourself.

I have always had a sense that we are all pretty much alone in life, particularly in adolescence.

I have lived a thousand lives lost within the pages of a book.

A writer must take risks, defy the odds, be a bit obsessed and a little mad.

I read a lot of detective stories because they always deliver. They give you a beginning, a middle, and an end - a resolution. The modern novels I read don't always deliver because I'm looking essentially for a story. As in Shakespeare, "The play's the thing." In particular I read detective stories for pacing, plot and suspense.