Commercial fiction writing – where my bread is buttered – is fairly straightforward. The writing is simply efficiency and story. The more you have of one the less you need of the other.

Becoming a writer is a polite way of saying you've chosen alcoholism as a career.

If you love deeply, you're going to get hurt badly. But it's still worth it.

Would it be better to feel afraid all the time or to feel nothing at all? She hadn't decided yet.

Next time I want to do something nice, slap me.

I think the writer's job is to paint the gray because no life is clearly defined.

No rich man is a patriot, no rich man is a friend. They have all only got one fatherland the Ritz-Carlton; and one friend the mistress they're promising to divorce their wives for.

It is hard to fight against anger: to master it is the mark of a rational man.

So, yes, at least from my end. You could say there's a lot of Alison [McGhee] in Gollie too.

Always focus on the outcome of a desired act.

He who injures one man threatens many.