Gasping for breath, the body still battling for life.

I've never worked for a newspaper. I've had some very bad reviews in newspapers.

I'll never get used to anything. Anybody that does they might as well be dead.

I think the only person a writer has an obligation to is himself. If what I write doesn't fulfill something in me, if I don't honestly feel it's the best I can do, then I'm miserable.

Fame is only good for one thing - they will cash your check in a small town.

One day, I started writing, not knowing that I had chained myself for life to a noble but merciless master. When God hands you a gift, he also hands you a whip; and the whip is intended solely for self-flagellation... I'm here alone in my dark madness, all by myself with my deck of cards - and, of course, the whip God gave me.

I know the next best thing is often the very best.