I've spread my legs in the backseat in a creative sense quite a few times.

Our time here is brief, our risk enormous. Don't waste the one or increase the other, if you please.

And if you are honest about the words coming out of your characters' mouths, you'll find that you've let yourself in for a fair amount of criticism.

But it's writing, damn it, not washing the car or putting on eyeliner. If you can take it seriously, we can do business. If you can't or won't, it's time for you to close the book and do something else. Wash the car, maybe.

My view is that organized religion is a very dangerous tool that's been misused by a lot of people.

I did a couple of writing seminars in Canada with high school kids. These were the bright kids; they all have computers, but they can't spell. Because spell-check won't [help] you if you don't know through from threw. I told them, "If you can read in the 21st century, you own the world." Because you learn to write from reading.

Just the act of cooking made her feel better, because cooking was life.