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.

I take real people and put them in extraordinary situations.

It doesn't matter how big the body, it's what you do with it.

Don't miss the bus, boy. You're missing a lot of things in the world, better not miss that bus.

I use a lot of similes and metaphors when I work, simply because it's my best way of describing a building or a scene. I'm terrible at describing landscapes - trees, buildings. The inanimate things don't interest me: I always think, "Oh, no, here comes another building I have to describe." So I usually use a simile or metaphor.

Salinger is such a terrific writer; he did so many great things. He is one of those writers that I still reread, simply because he makes me see the possibilities and makes me feel like writing. There are certain writers who put you in the mood to write. In the way a whiff of a cigar will bring back memories of a ballgame on a Saturday afternoon, reading Salinger makes me want to get to the typewriter.

Cities fell. Earth opened. Planets tilted. Stars plummeted. And the awful silence.