I think the Internet, particularly the availability of information, is great. I do a lot of correspondence on-line and have a chat line to talk to my fans as well

I wouldn't encourage new writers to start off publishing through electronic media... it still isn't wide enough for the readership they would need to get a good start

I have a shelf of comfort books, which I read when the world closes in on me or something untoward happens

But I will say that living in Ireland has changed the cadence and fullness of speech, since the Irish love words and use as many of them in a sentence as possible

Make no judgments where you have no compassion.

I did not have a chance to write novels until my youngest child started school fulltime

I think writers need windows on a view to remind them that a whole world is out there, not the minutiae with which they might be dealing on a close scale

How much can a dragon carry? As much as it thinks it can

What I used to do between writing fits was feed my kids, ride my horse and go shopping for cat and dog food.

Living is struggling to do something impossible; To succeed or die, knowing that you had tried.

The thing is, emotion - if it's visibly felt by the writer - will go through all the processes it takes to publish a story and still hit the reader right in the gut. But you have to really mean it.

You are serving someone for the rest of your life, not knowing a time must come when you must also be served.

Maybe not. But maybe that's how the world changes, Isaiah. One father, one child, at a time.

Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.

Most artists are surrealists

When in doubt, throw doubt out and have a little faith.

Ants make up two-thirds of the biomass of all the insects. There are millions of species of organisms and we know almost nothing about them.

Carolina beach music," Dupree said, coming up on the porch. "The holiest sound on earth.

Experiences aren't given to us to be 'got over,' otherwise they would hardly be experiences.

Everything that has a beginning comes to an end.

A little-known company with a realistic framework that appeals to entrepreneurial employees is going to be more attractive than a famous company that treats its people like disposable assets.