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.

" ... 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.

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.

People who know various movie versions don't really know the story.

One more dance along the razor's edge finished. Almost dead yesterday, maybe dead tomorrow, but alive, gloriously alive, today.

Tests were always easy for me. I saw them as games, saw myself as being in a contest against a mythical adversary, and welcomed the challenge.

Friends come into our lives and friends leave our lives. But friends never leave our hearts. And best friends always get to stay in the best places in our hearts.

When you choose to work with a willing, happy heart, you become a beautiful source of joy to all.

...don't be self-conscious - other people are completely unaware of you and more concerned with how they appear ...

Jack might look my age, but he was like a little kid on a sugar high --- in need of a good spanking. --- Good heavens, that sounded creepy.

James Dean taught me not to speed, River Phoenix taught me not to DO speed, and Marlon Brando taught me to slow down on the cheeseburgers.

Everyone has a need to do penance. It's a basic need, like washing. It's about harmony, an absolutely essential inner balance. It's the balance we call morality.

I have other tastes besides comedy. I love comedy. I adore it, but I love dramatic movies just as much.

I was going to be a writer. One person believed I could do it: my mom. Having her faith in me was like carrying around the Hammer of Thor.