Music still sort of hangs up there in the sky for me as this thing that moves me so much, but I can't really make it. It's like a car I can't drive.

I try not to become too regular an addict of any one subculture.

I never take any notes or draw charts or make elaborate diagrams, but I hold an image of the shape of a book in my head and work from that mental hologram.

I've never related to the work geek at all-it sounds much more horrible than nerd. Like a freak biting a chicken's head off in a sideshow.

I learned to write fiction the way I learned to read fiction - by skipping the parts that bored me.

Someday I would change my name to Shut Up and save everybody a lot of time.

I work on a laptop specifically so I can work in cafes and pretend I'm part of the human world.

What age is a black boy when he learns he's scary?

It was only as I wrote about fear that I began to find paths of access to feelings that were intolerable to me then.

I want what we all want," said Carl. "To move certain parts of the interior of myself into the exterior world, to see if they can be embraced.

I can't bear the silent ringing in my skull.

Hope is made of air, and wishes. An empty box wrapped in shiny paper.

When we leave this life, we only get to take two things: the love we received and the lessons we learned.

I have nothing to do with Russia. Haven't made a phone call to Russia in years. Don't speak to people from Russia. Not that I wouldn't. I just have nobody to speak to.

Don't wear your heart on your sleeve when your remarks are off the cuff.

Doe what thou oughtest, and come what come can.

I haven't stopped smoking...anything

The world was more than a place. Life was more than an event. It was all one thing, and that thing was: story.

Steve Laury smokes playing octaves.

Criticism is something that you have to take, regardless of what you do.