I had never taken creative writing classes. Hadn't even considered it.

Ask her what she craved, and she'd get a little frantic about things like books, the woods, music. Plants and the seasons. Also freedom.

We are not strong enough to stand up against endless grief, And yet pain is the constant drone of life. So if we are to have any happiness at all, it is only in the passing instant.

She always carried a book, though, in case she needed to read a few pages to avoid unwanted conversation.

Claim your space. Draw a circle of light around it. Push back against the dark. Don't just survive. Celebrate.

Thinking: this journey will be the axle of my life.

All I can say is that we are mistaken to gouge such a deep rift in history that the things old men and old women know have become so useless as to be not worth passing on to grandchildren.

Well, I'm a slow writer. For me, a good day is a page, maybe a page and a half. I'd love to be more efficient, but I am not.

A lizard in the spring - hear his darling sing. A bird with wings to fly - go back to his darling weep and moan till he dies. A mole in the ground - root a mountain down.

He tried to name which of the deadly seven might apply, and when he failed he decided to append an eighth, regret.

It always helps me connect with characters, to think about what music they respond to

Our mind is a garden, our thoughts are the seeds. We can grow flowers or we can grow weeds. Don't forget to water it!

Very high altitude observatories are a known worker health hazard.

There's no better feeling in the world than a warm pizza box on your lap.

My life has been more influenced by books than by any other one thing.

When you rest in the weakness of your heart, your being moves and your self becomes quieted.

And she knew without opening her eyes that it was Daniel. No other body in the universe fit hers so well.

So long as we need to control other people, however benign our motives, we are captive to that need. In giving them freedom, we free ourselves.

MTV made a huge impact. Heavy rotation took you from selling 1m albums to 20m albums, and that meant a lot of dough.

Servants think of ministry as an opportunity, not an obligation. They enjoy helping people, meeting needs, and doing ministry.

With considerable soul searching, that to the utmost of my ability, I have let truth be the prejudice.