We must nurture and love, if life is to have any real meaning. But First we must find a way to survive against the things that prevent us from doing so.

Anyway, several rewrites later, Del Rey Books did publish my first novel, and it did become the first work of fiction on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list.

I have learned to do more with less, so you don't see the big books anymore.

If you don't think there is magic in writing, you probably won't write anything magical.

I think I make better use of language and imagery than when I started out.

Friendship doesn't have anything to do with shoring up weakness. It has to do with respect and consideration for those you care about. It has to do with wanting to give something back to those you admire.

Fiction writing is a twenty-four-hou r-a-day occupation. You never leave your work behind. It is always with you, and to some extent, you are always thinking about it. You don't take your work home; your work never leaves home. It lives inside you. It resides and grows and comes alive in your mind.