Ghosts don't haunt us. That's not how it works. They're present among us because we won't let go of them.

Of the first seven novels I wrote, numbers four and five were published. Numbers one, two, three, six, and seven, have never seen the light of day... and rightly so.

Everything happens for a reason, but that doesn't mean there's a point.

I caution writers all the time to slow down and pay more attention to the work in front of them than to the end result. I don't think you write one book and get anywhere. I think you write five books and then maybe you are finally on the right path.

Sometimes I claim I write because I put in an application at Sears and they've never called back.

There's nothing quite as irksome as someone else's mess.

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.