The thing I do at the beginning is a "voice journal," a free form doc that is the character speaking to me. I just work on it until I start to hear different from my own, or the other characters.

In fact, one could argue that the skill of the fiction writer boils down to the ability to exploit intensity.

Structure is translation software for your imagination.

Every hour you spend writing is an hour you don't spend worrying about your writing.

Status, worry and comparison are ways to madness, not victory.

Superb historical romance, with a spiritual theme woven seamlessly throughout. I much enjoyed The Covered Deep and look forward to more from its author!

Think of it as the Doorway of No Return. The feeling must be that your lead character, once she passes through, cannot go home again until the major problem of the plot is solved.

Write like you're in love. Edit like you're in charge.

A writing teacher once told me that the most successful movies and books were simple plots about complex characters. You should be able to articulate your concept in a couple of lines.

There's a perilous word fiction writers need to watch out for. The word is 'had.'

The semi-colon is a burp, a hiccup. It's a drunk staggering out of the saloon at 2 a.m., grabbing your lapels on the way and asking you to listen to one more story.

I don't want to live, I want to love first and live incidentally.

What dreams would he have, not seeing. Life a dream for him. Where is the justice being born that way?

Umm, how old are you?” Alexis asked, a little hesitant to answer before making sure he wasn’t a minor.“Twenty-one, but age is just a number, ” the guy responded.

It’s chaos out there, and chaos is what we need.

I began the study of medicine, impelled by a desire for knowledge of facts and of man. The resolution to do disciplined work tied me to both laboratory and clinic for a long time to come.

I never saw [Allen Ginsberg] as some kind of crazy figure.

Gratitude puts everything into perspective.

When I paint, mysterious things happen. What starts with a void ends with a dialogue.

People are pulled towards the best in themselves, and spotlighting the right is a much stronger approach than nagging.

Creative experience foreshadows a new Heaven and a new Earth.