I think humor is like a shield that lets you get as close to the sad sad flame as possible - far closer, oftentimes, than drama.

exercise will never be my lover. Or even my friend. For me, a workout is more like an annoying coworker I have to see a few times a week.

During my MFA, I was lucky to be surrounded by a really supportive group of peers. And now I get feedback pretty exclusively from freaks only.

Las Vegas is incredible. Either you love it or you're a classy person with morals. I fall into the former category. It's definitely bled into my writing.

If you're a beautiful Caucasian woman, and you commit a heinous crime, it's like people don't want to acknowledge the reality of your actions.

I'm a big people pleaser; I had a very awkward adolescence. Part of me is still that person who wants everyone to like me.

I've seen men in $5,000 suits urinate in public fountains here. Las Vegas is the best place on earth.

I really want readers to put themselves into the shoes of each character. So the opening lines are an orienting technique: this is where you are, this is who you are. Go.

My writing circle isn't too full of people who fall into the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought Tuesdays With Morrie" category.

Luckily I'm on prescription drugs that prevent me from worrying about anything too much.

I don't consider myself attractive. I'm an academic, and in academia, people will write you off if you look younger.

People who complain about something that they cannot do anything about are as irritating as those who complain about something that they can do something about.

I went to Brooklyn College and met this beautiful Jewish girl named Merle, with dark hair, exotic looking and brilliant. So we got married and had three children.

We sometimes imagine we hate flattery, but we only hate the way we are flattered.

I need time to develop the idea into a plot before I talk about it.

When youre young, you dont think very far ahead. You just think in terms of the next day, the next week, the next competition. You dont think about injuries that could threaten your long-term health.

I want my foundation built, and I want to be strong enough to deal with everything coming my way.

I can't answer for my mother. She was a very private person, and did not discuss a lot of things.

Just as those who practice the same profession recognize each other instinctively, so do those who practice the same vice.

Strangely enough, they have a mind to till the soil, and the love of possessions is a disease in them.

Having served in eleven Parliaments, it would be difficult to describe this as a maiden speech. It would be like Elizabeth Taylor appearing at her next wedding in a white gown.