Luck is not as random as you think. Before that lottery ticket won the jackpot, someone had to buy it.

Marion Zimmer Bradley took apart my first submission to her, covered the manuscript in red ink revisions, and told me to try her again. I had never been so reeling with authorial joy as I had been that day, holding Marion's letter and seeing that ravaged manuscript - finally, it meant that someone cared!

Creativity is not so much a boundless well, but an all-you-can-eat buffet of elements for your creative endeavor. Eventually you've eaten your fill, and it's time to digest and then make something. But at some point, it will be time to return to the restaurant.

The heartland lies where the heart longs to be. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to find the true place to plant it.

Withhold a smile only when the smile can hurt someone. Otherwise, let it bloom forth in a riot.

Never look directly at the sun. Instead, look at the sunflower.

Sometimes, reaching out and taking someone's hand is the beginning of a journey. At other times, it is allowing another to take yours.