Sometimes you can't be what you ought to be, you can't have what you ought to have.

I also try very hard to create characters - both heroes and villains - with psychological depth.

You think publishing is tough but the music world is ten times tougher.

Certainly going back to Sherlock Holmes we have a tradition of forensic science featured in detective stories.

Readers are paramount. I live to write books for them.

If you have a craftsman's command of the language and basic writing techniques you'll be able to write - as long as you know what you want to say

In suspense novels even subplots about relationships have to have conflict.

I was editor of my high school literary magazine and a reporter for the school newspaper.

When you work alone, you need to socialize at some level.

My books are primarily plot driven but the best plot in the world is useless if you don't populate them with characters that readers can care about.

I like the way words go together and I like the gamesmanship of writing poetry. It is such a challenge.

I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions.

Man has made use of his intelligence, he invented stupidity.

Don't bother to give God instructions; just report for duty.

My voice is an instrument.

Nothing. My father is very good at doing nothing. He calls it thinking.

...it is impossible to make anything beautiful or desirable in the best regulated administration of slavery.

One not need make peace with friends, only with enemies

You got to be careful to not get too comfortable with incremental improvement. I think sometimes you just got to jump off a ledge.

It's an actor's job to play all the human conditions - light, dark, and medium.

I can see more naturalness in basic blues, basic R & B, basic rock 'n' roll.