The struggle is what teaches you.

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

There was an author who titled his books by days of the weeks and another one that used colors. Then there was Edward Gorey who wrote the book The Gashlycrumb Tinies, about the untimely death of 26 Victorian children, each representing a letter of the alphabet. I thought what a great way to link the titles.

Life was reduced to its four basic elements: air, food, drink, and a good friend.

Sometimes being fooled by love is worth the price. At least you know you're alive and capable of feeling, even if all you end up with is chest pain.

School was a source of great suffering to me, but once I learned to read, I disappeared into books, where I was a happy visitor to all the worlds that sprang full-blown from the printed page.

I was an English major in college with minors in Fine Arts and Humanities.