If I'd been listening closely, I'd have caught the sound of the gods having a great big old tee-hee at my expense.

I read the paper every day. There are certain subjects that will catch my attention. I have an entire file of articles. Of course I make up the story, especially since most criminals are not very smart and fictional crime must be clever. I have to make sure the story I am telling is interesting and realistic. In this book I went on line and found out the manners of codes. I thought it interesting to use them as a jumping off point.

Grade school was perilous. ... I can see how I must have worried them. I was the kind of kid who, for no apparent reason, wept piteously or threw up on myself. On an especially scary day, I sometimes did both.

My job as the writer is to fool you. Your job as the reader is to see if you can catch me at it.

People who've had happy childhoods are wonderful, but they're bland... An unhappy childhood compels you to use your imagination to create a world in which you can be happy. Use your old grief. That's the gift you're given.

Society values cooperation over independence, obedience over individuality, and niceness above all else.

That's the way the system works. Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you.