Dog parks are more cliquish than any other human gathering with the possible exception of seventh grade. Deal with it.

Orchid hunting is a mortal occupation.

I think of myself as something of a connoisseur of procrastination, creative and dogged in my approach to not getting things done.

Living in a rural setting exposes you to so many marvelous things - the natural world and the particular texture of small-town life, and the exhilarating experience of open space.

You have to simply love writing, and you have to remind yourself often that you love it.

Libraries are what is best about us as a society: open, exciting, rich, informative, free, inclusive, engaging.

One of the very best reasons for having children is to be reminded of the incomparable joys of a snow day.

A snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky, unbidden, and seems like a thing of wonder.

An ordinary life examined closely reveals itself to be exquisite and complicated and exceptional, somehow managing to be both heroic and plain.

There's a marvelous sense of mastery that comes with writing a sentence that sounds exactly as you want it to.

Even after I'd published three books and had been writing full-time for twenty years, my father continued to urge me to go to law school.

No one will give a damn about you and your excellence unless you give a damn about yourself.

Boys always make things more complicated.

We write. How fortunate we are: The world does not close in on us. The world does not grow smaller.

Move with a purpose dude.

Success is not only one thing. Its not only having a nice house in Beverly Hills and driving a nice Mercedes.

Writing... is an act of faith: I believe it's also an act of hope, the hope that things can get better than they are.

We are reluctant to let go of the belief that if I am to care for something I must control it.

Attend your children's athletic events. There's nothing better than watching your child succeed while absolutely loving the opportunity to play in front of you.

The haste of a fool is the slowest thing in the world.

There's a freedom you begin to feel the closer you get to Austin, Texas.