Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.

To the devil with false modesty.

But writers INVITE ghosts, maybe; along with actors and artists, they are the only totally accepted mediums of our society. They make worlds that never were, populate them with people who never existed, and then invite us to join them in their fantasies. And we do it, don't we? Yes. We PAY to do it.

The wonder is that so many OCDs manage to live productive lives, just the same. They work, they eat (often not enough or too much, it's true), they go to the movies, they make love to their girlfriends and boyfriends, their wives and husbands... and all the time those birds are there, clinging to them and pecking away little bits of flesh.

There's a Mr. Hyde for every happy Jekyll face, a dark face on the other side of the mirror.

That's not such a bad thing,' he said to me. 'In nightmares we can think the worst. That's what they're for, I guess.

I know life is hard, I think everyone knows that in their hearts, but why dos it have to be cruel, as well? Why does it have to bite?