Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty.

I’ve always said to people, "I don’t care what you call me as long as the checks don’t bounce and the family gets fed." But I never saw myself that way. I just saw myself as a novelist.

It's only a little secret, but having a secret makes me feel better. Like a human being again.

As a rule, I don't worry about genre. I just want to tell a good story, with characters that interest me and my readers.

I think we'd all like to believe that after we shuffle off this mortal coil, that there's going to be something on the other side because for most of us, I know for me, life is so rich, so colorful and sensual and full of good things, things to read, things to eat, things to watch, places to go, new experiences, that I don't want to think that you just go to darkness.

If you're going into a very dark place, then you should take a bright light, and shine it on everything. If you don't want to see, why in God's name would you dare the dark at all?

That's the curse of the reading class. We can be seduced by a good story even at the most inopportune moments.