Everything is connected. The wing of the corn beetle affects the direction of the wind, the way the sand drifts, the way the light reflects into the eye of man beholding his reality. All is part of totality, and in this totality man finds his hozro, his way of walking in harmony, with beauty all around him.

An author knows his landscape best; he can stand around, smell the wind, get a feel for his place.

I always try to make the setting fit the story I have in mind.

I always have one or two, sometimes more, Navajo or other tribes' cultural elements in mind when I start a plot. In Thief of Time, I wanted to make readers aware of Navajo attitude toward the dead, respect for burial sites.

Women are extremely important shapers of my own life.

Being Indian is not blood as much as it is culture.

I am 82 years old. I imagine that I will keep on writing as long as anyone wants to keep reading.