I've never seen novels as built things. I have a tendency to see them as found things so that I always feel a little bit like an archaeologist who's working to get some fragile fossil out of the ground. And the more you get out unbroken, the better you succeed.

You learned to accept, or you ended up in a small room writing letters home with Crayolas.

If the stuff you're writing is not for yourself, it won't work.

A library is a place where you can live a thousand lives. So why are you waiting when you could be living? Visit your library today.

I don't spend the day writing. I'll maybe write fresh copy for two hours, and then I'll go back and revise some of it and print what I like and then turn it off.

Only God gets things right the first time.

Mrs. Cole was a perfect democrat. She hated all kids equally.