Listening takes practice, and it takes patience. But I promise, if you listen, your story will be better for it.

I'm one of three brothers.

Her lips were like the soft beauty of a delicately designed silken scarf.

I'm a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

I feel like a centrist, an issue-specific person. I'm pretty conservative fiscally and pretty liberal on social issues.

I've always wanted to write a novel. It's overwhelming and daunting, and it's one of those things that every writer fantasizes about doing.

Where I came from, no one was a writer.

In a novel, the relationship between writer and reader is such a pure one.

In a novel, the only budgetary limitations are that of your imagination.

I have a ways to go as a novelist. But what's great is, well, I frankly enjoyed the solitude. And I enjoyed being able to tell characters what to say and do without negotiating with an actor.

When you're writing a novel, you're still telling a story. But you're telling it very differently. It's a craft like anything else.

what is love? love is you!

Lorraine once told me, smile big when you’re sad. Smile big when you’re happy. Smile big when you’re bored. Because regardless how you feel, your face could use a stretch.

Our Father Who Art in Heaven gathered more meaning for me as my own father joined the Maker when I was still in school.

There is no greater power on this earth than story.

It's more blessed to give than to receive - especially kittens.

My wife was a beautiful woman before we had children.

Only when you can understand yourself as All Pervading Consciousness can you possibly understand that all the universe is an emanation of your mind. Everything that you see comes out of you.

You need a can-do spirit everywhere.

All history is the history of unintended consequences.

The Iranians don't intimidate! They're like the Vietnamese and the Iraqis. You want to start a war with them? They'll still be fighting in fifty years!