I would say plotting is the most difficult thing for me. Characterization is only hard because sometimes I feel I get so interested in it that I want to talk too much about the characters and that slows the story down. So I say, "Hey, people want to find out what's going to happen next, they don't want to listen to you spout off about this or that person." But I think even the bad guy deserves to tell his side of the story.

I think reality is thin, you know, thin as lake ice after a thaw, and we fill our lives with noise and light and motion to hide that thinness from ourselves.

I'd like to take a motorcycle trip across Europe, maybe even across China. Of course I'd also like to broker a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, but it's important to put ceilings on one's ambitions.

Oh Christ, he groaned to himself, if this is the stuff adults have to think about I never want to grow up

I have two amazing things in my life: I'm pain-free and I'm debt-free.

There's nothing like stories on a windy night when folks have found a warm place in a cold world.

Love, the simplest, strongest, and most unforgiving of all emotions.