Nothing was more valuable than the printed word.

bitter is a bad way to live!

I write a book over a period of months or years, and when I'm done with it, usually another year goes by before I see it in print. It's hard to be patient and wait

After Ive sent my revised draft to my agent and editor, they suggest more improvement sand again, this revision phase can take anywhere from a few hours to a few months.

Generally I finish a first draft in 2-6 months, then I set it aside for a while so that when I come back to it I can read it with fresh eyes and figure out how to improve it.

When writing isn't going well-then the bad thing about being a writer is that I also have the freedom and flexibility to do something badly, and no one else can fix it for me.

I started trying to write when I was in second or third grade.

It's just so much fun to make up characters, situations, and everything else about a story. I have so much freedom and flexibility to do whatever I want.

I am not just what I remember. I am also what I dream.

I like playing around with the words; I love it when I feel like I've picked the exact right word to describe whatever it is I'm trying to describe

I like to know what I'm celebrating before I put on a party hat.

All history is the experimental refutation of the theory of the so-called moral order of things.

There ain't no haints in Detroit.

I have arrived more definitely than any other painter during his lifetime

There is always money to kill people. There is never enough money for life affirming ends.

But oh, San Francisco! It is and has everything - you wouldn't think that such a place as San Francisco could exist.

... the fallibility of human brains is in nothing more obvious than in proof reading.

Don't give me timing, give me time

How much smaller the large places are once we're grown up, when we have car keys and credit cards.

Belgium is a country with a split personality.

I think if you serve under John Kelly your morale is going to be good.