I'm a writer of faith. I was raised Catholic, and I have a deeply Catholic imagination.

A good novel doesn't just transcend the boundaries of its target market - it knows nothing about target markets.

Sometimes the only way to fix a mistake- is to make it twice.

Love is a luxury. It's something that people are allowed to indulge in when they're not simply trying to survive and keep other people alive.

If you look at the world one way, it takes from you - it's a thief of time, energy, creative mojo. But if you look at the world another way, it gives you an endless supply of motivation.

Omission is a sin only if, in the process of deceiving, you forget the truth. Lying is a sin only if, in the process, the lie becomes the only truth.

The intricacy of plotting a thriller is akin to writing formal poetry.

Red Sox fans have been pushed to the brink over the years, but that's how faith grows stronger.

I prefer a cluttered workspace.

I want women writers to write boldly, wildly, deeply. I want them to feel really liberated to tell the brutal truth, however they see that truth and are moved to tell it.

The poem has to bear the weight with image, language... the screenplay with dialogue, plot.

Borders? I have never seen one. But I have heard they exist in the minds of some people.

It would be better alone, anything is better alone but I don't think I can handle it alone.

Those who did not live during the years close to 1789 do not know the pleasure of living.

It is good if your enemy underestimates you. The dumber they think you are the more surprised they are when you kill them.

Many men of course became extremely rich, but this was perfectly natural and nothing to be ashamed of because no one was really poor, at least no one worth speaking of.

If you raise a child, there's no time, you can't be a great parent.

I try to take pictures on their own terms, considering the historical and social context from which they emerge.

I am suspicious of both facility and speed.

No one can resist the idea of a crippled genius.

The rude beginnings of every art acquire a greater celebrity than the art in perfection; he who first played the fiddle was looked upon as a demigod.