Some people say 'I want to be a writer,' and some people say, 'I want to write.'

Death is not the opposite of life, but the opposite of choice.

I healed. Not completely. A scar is never the same as good flesh, but it stops the bleeding.

Anticipating pain was like enduring it twice. Why not anticipate pleasure instead?

Well,the fun part of being a writer is that it's like making a wonderful film, with no limit on my budget. I can design the sets, the costume, the lightings, I write the script, and then I get to perform all the roles as I step into each character's skin, zip up, and adopt that point of view. So, to me, they are all compelling and fascinating.

I feared my own kind more than anything the natural world could ever threaten me with.

When you are writing, you have to love all your characters. If you're writing something from a minor character's point of view, you really need to stop and say the purpose of this character isn't to be somebody's sidekick or to come in and put the horse in the stable. The purpose of this character is you're getting a little window into that character's life and that character's day. You have to write them as if they're not a minor character, because they do have their own things going on.