Having reached the halfway mark in the alphabet, my prime focus is on writing each new book as well as I can.

You write one book and you're ready for fame and fortune. I don't know that people are spending the time and attention on learning how to write-which takes years. Everybody sees the success stories.

Writing isn't about the destination-writing is the journey that transforms the soul and gives meaning to all else.

After my years in Hollywood, I got tired of apologizing for work that really wasn't mine to begin with.

There's a certain class of people who will do you in and then remain completely mystified by the depth of your pain.

Except for cases that clearly involve a homicidal maniac, the police like to believe murders are committed by those we know and love, and most of the time they're right - a chilling thought when you sit down to dinner with a family of five. All those potential killers passing their plates.

Ideas are easy. It's the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats.