You hope that people read your book and say "Yes, this is the way it is or could be." But then you have no way of knowing until the reader reads the book. Actually, the critical response doesn't worry me. I've had very few reviews that have upset me.

It's amazing that the heart makes no noise when it cracks.

As much as there is joy in writing, there's always the little bit of terror to keep you on edge, on your toes. It is a strange way to occupy yourself - to enjoy your life on a daily basis. There is no guarantee that something great is going to come next.

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 simply write with an intelligent reader in mind. I don't think about how old they are.

Writing, even though it's hard work, is really a joy when you get these characters to come alive. It's hard to trace where they come from. I can't say that I am sitting here one night at nine o'clock and that a character occurs to me. The magic for me happens at the typewriter.

I find that most books that I don't like are those in which the authors have indulged themselves. I can almost sense when they're writing something for themselves.