Pay enough for anything and it passes for taste.

It's disconcerting to realize how little you have to say to someone who once occupied such a prominent place in your bed.

Writing is self-taught. Consulting other people only teaches you to depend on their reactions, which may or may not be legitimate. Quit looking for approval ... Learn to evaluate your own work with a dispassionate eye ... the lessons you acquire will be all the more valuable because you've mastered your craft from within.

My primary lesson, however, was that I'm a solo writer, happiest when I'm making all the executive decisions. I've always been willing to rise or fall on my own merits.

I started writing seriously when I was 18, wrote my first novel when I was 22, and I've never stopped writing since.

Poise and indifference so often look the same.

You can't make anyone love you and you can't stop anyone from dying.