From where we stand the rain seems random. If we could stand somewhere else, we would see the order in it.

A writer is like a bag lady going through life with a sack and a pointed stick collecting stuff.

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

I know what I write about seems exotic to a lot of people, but not for me. I pulled up to an old trading post and saw a few elderly Navajos sitting on a bench. I felt right at home.

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.

You write for two people, yourself and your audience, who are usually better educated and at least as smart.

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