To all librarians everywhere, God bless you.

" ... What if?" Through the alchemy of those two words, something new comes into the world.

When I teach writing, I have a mantra: Be a first-rate version of yourself, and not a second-rate version of another writer.

His name was Rambo, and he was just some nothing kid for all anybody knew, standing by the pump of a gas station at the outskirts of Madison, Kentucky.

One generation's idea of fast pace might be different from a later generation's.

A thriller becomes great when it carries a feeling of reality and truth.

There are no inferior types of fiction, only inferior practitioners of them.

As long as thriller authors teach us about our world, they'll be relevant.

Your obligation as writers is to distinguish yourself. … The ultimate result should be a book that you write that no one else could have written.

At their best, thrillers not only entertain. Ideally they also reflect the society in which they are set, analyzing our fears and how we perceive the world.

A thriller must be thrilling. A mystery may or may not be a thriller depending on how much breathless emotion it has, as opposed to cerebral calculation.

Without taking the risk of falling, no one can learn how to walk.

Words are great, but actions speak louder!

I've often gotten the feeling that the only people who have learned from computer assisted instruction are the authors.

That ability to press immediately, within five or six seconds to get the ball, is important

I will maintain the presence of a Mexican Army, and the Navy and police in the states of the Mexican Republic, where the problem of crime has increased.

I know my lies are always wishes.

Hip-hop has globalized a conception of blackness that has had a political impact, whether or not it had a political intent.

So, if a city has a personality, maybe it also has a soul. Maybe it dreams.

When you learn how to suffer, you suffer much less.

Sam dropped me off. When she was too far away to see me, I started to cry again. Because she was my friend again. And that was enough for me.