The push and pull of representing your world responsibly and your artistic license is a tricky balance.

I don't really get romance. Bring me fish or moose, not flowers.

Once your writing is out there, you can't control how other people perceive it. All you can do is stand in your truth.

I was born on the same day as Edgar Allan Poe and Dolly Parton: January 19. I am absolutely certain that this affects my writing in some way.

Autumn. Pretty leaves, pumpkin pie and sweaters. Perfect weather for reading. Winter is great but I hate shoveling.

I think we learn slowly as a group, but we learn. The ozone layer is still there.

I find myself moved by social justice issues. I'm not sure where that will lead me. I'm willing to nurture it.

We can be the new brand of self-extincting dinosaurs or we can evolve.

Our ability to turn off empathy for specific kinds of humans and then use faulty logic to justify our beliefs is messily sociopathic.

I don't think anyone's normal.

In general, I'm careful when I'm dealing with subjects of deep cultural importance and write with abandon when I'm dealing with issues of personal dysfunction.

Darkness should never be an excuse to quit, for with God, darkness is the exact stuff that light was built for.

Without doing anything physical you can use the hands of your mind to change the world.

My heart had melted into something akin to a sensation of happiness, peace of mind one might even say, at the realization that I had now reached the very bottom of agony.

Follow your passion, but never forget your responsibilities.

Hard work is much more important than talent

I know exactly what I'm doing, but I just can't stop. That's my greatest weakness.

Work hard at everything you do. Never give up. Never quit. Many people have talents but without the hard work you won't get anywhere.

I cannot remember the time when I have not longed for death. ... for years and years I used to watch for death as no sick man ever watched for the morning.

To find your own way is to follow your bliss.

You don't touch the purse. The purse is sacrosanct.