I think part of being a parent is trying to kill your kids.

Working on a new idea is kind of like getting married. Then a new idea comes along and you think, 'Man, I'd really like to go out with her.' But you can't. At least not until the old idea is finished.

Once I fell in love with books, I fell in love completely.

Outlines are the last resource of bad fiction writers who wish to God they were writing masters' theses.

if you tell yourself the great lie of bad art-that you are in charge-your chance at the truth will be lost. The truth isn't always pretty.

It's hard for me to believe that people who read very little (or not at all in some cases) should presume to write and expect people to like what they have written.

There were times . . . when it occurred to me that I was repeating my mother's life. Usually this thought struck me as funny. But if I happened to be tired, or if there were extra bills to pay and no money to pay them with, it seemed awful. I'd think 'This isn't the way our lives are supposed to be going.' Then I'd think 'Half the world has the same idea.