I actually pushed the boundaries on how long a book like this [The Thorn and the Blossom] can be. The original plan called for two 7,500 word stories, and I turned in two 10,000 word stories.

Accept criticism. If you do not offer your work for criticism and accept that criticism, meaning give it serious thought and attention, then you will never improve.

What writers do - everything comes from inside, from experiences of the world that we have digested. And then we turn it into silk, or stories.

If you’re a writer, your first duty, a duty you owe to yourself and your readers, and to your writing itself, is to become wonderful. To become the best writer you can possibly be.

I think part of my purpose in this life is to talk about magic, and to make it.

The only thing worth thinking about, when I write a story, is whether I like it, whether I want to write it, whether it excites me.

The appeal of writing a romance was that I'd never written one before the The Thorn and The Blossom.

I loved writing something I'd never written before, and I wanted to write not just about "true love" but also a human relationship.

I've heard some readers saying they wished the story was longer, and I completely understand that desire - we all like to sink into a nice, long novel.

It's appropriate to have magic in a love story, because magic is a sort of metaphor for what love feels like? When we fall in love, the world feels magical to us. It becomes an enchanted place.

I see so many talented writers who have difficulties with that. And if you don't believe it's important, you won't put in the work you need to.

What monster sleeps in the deep of your story? You need a monster. Without a monster there is no story.

Sometimes if you don't get lost, there is a chance, you may never arrive!

The lens we choose transforms the way we look at things.

We are a great nation because we are a good people.

I like to go into the studio and start work on a project when it's time. I don't like to do it too early or too late.

The appeal to force is the abandonment of reason.

We fall privately before we ever fall publicly.

Do we need more laws? God forbid! We need more righteousness, more freedom, and more godly men -- and fewer laws.

Happy people die whole, they are all dissolved in a moment, they have had what they wanted.

I have a practice of really not talking about the competition. I'm from the old school.