When I was 30 or so - by that time I had become an assistant D.A. - I decided I would try to write a novel. To be clear: I did not decide to become a novelist. Honestly, it never crossed my mind that I could actually earn a living as a professional novelist.

I can't say that I ever actually decided to become a writer. It kind of snuck up on me.

Damage hardens us all. It will harden you too, when it finds you—and it will find you

At some point as adults we cease to be our parents' children and we become our children's parents instead.

You know, being confident isn't the same as being right.

There are many more ways to be attractive than to be beautiful.

no one worth knowing can be quite known, no one worth possessing can be quite possessed