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

When I write, I never think of segments as chapters; I think of them as scenes. I always visualize them in my mind. Then I try to get the scene down on paper as closely as I can. That's the one thing that readers don't see - what you have in your mind. The reader can only see what you get on the page.

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

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.

Affection is one of the most neglected words in the English language, that people throw the word love around like confetti when they mean affection.

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

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