Yes, I’ve made a great deal of dough from my fiction, but I never set a single word down on paper with the thought of being paid for it...I have written because it fulfilled me. ... I did it for the pure joy of the things. And if you can do it for joy, you can do it forever.

A little talent is a good thing to have if you want to be a writer. But the only real requirement is the ability to remember every scar.

That's something that is almost accidental at the beginning of a career, but the more you write, the more trained you are to recognize the little signals.

Definition of a wanderer: a guy who's always looking beyond.

It is the tale, not he who tells it.

What really scares me is Alzheimer's or premature senility, losing that ability to read and enjoy and to write. And you do it, and some days maybe aren't so good, and then some days, you really catch a wave, and it's as good as it ever was.

When the reader hears strong echoes of his or her own life and beliefs, he or she is apt to become more invested in the story.