Everyone has his own sound. I'm not going to presume how to tell anybody how to write.

I spent most of my dough on booze, broads and boats and the rest I wasted.

My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers: When you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip.

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.

The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in.

What do you tell a man with two black eyes? Nothing, he's already been told twice.

It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to sound like it does.

Using adverbs is a mortal sin.

At the time I begin writing a novel, the last thing I want to do is follow a plot outline. To know too much at the start takes the pleasure out of discovering what the book is about.

Try not to write the parts that people skip.

All the information you need can be given in dialogue.

Trust your gut, and don't let fear get the best of you.

Your thoughts define your life.

That's the thing with handmade items. They still have the person's mark on them, and when you hold them, you feel less alone.

Last year my boyfriend gave me a painting - a very personal one. I really prefer personal gifts or ones made by someone for me. Except diamonds. That's the exception to the rule.

Negroes who have been so long inconvenienced and denied opportunities for development are naturally afraid of anything that sounds like discrimination.

I think my favorite place to eat dinner is the movie theater. Dirty dogs, a big thing of nachos and a Cherry Coke - and I'm good.

Discipline is not a light switch. Discipline is a way of life.

There should be a left leg and a right leg. And I'll be in between

It all begins and ends in the same place, doesn't it? Conor and me in Ballyutogue. We all come home eventually.

The soul, as soon as she comes to know Me, reaches out to love her neighbors.