By the time I was fourteen the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and went on writing.

You might question a winkle - a feeling that came to you right out of the blue - but you didn’t question knowing.

We fool ourselves so much we could do it for a living.

I want to write about spiders. To me, this is the one theme that cuts right across and scares just about everybody. Spiders, to me, are just about the most horrible, awful things that I can think about. I think everyone is afraid of spiders.

Are you sure self-pity is a luxury you can afford, Jack?

They were trying to run, trying to hide. But the rock would not hide them; the dead tree gave no shelter.

My view is that organized religion is a very dangerous tool that's been misused by a lot of people.