My mom didn't write, but she loved to read. She liked books 'that made you a little nervous.' Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Peter Straub were the three wise men of our family bookshelf.

One true king knew when to step aside and give up the reins of power—to remove his crown and relinquish his kingdom—all for the sake of glimpsing, just once in a lifetime, the face of a holy child.

He was the Fourth to follow the Star.

His gift was a secret.

The rest of his journey is unknown.

I grew up reading Stephen King, Peter Straub, Clive Barker, Robert McCammon, Isaac Asimov's nonfiction books, and Roald Dahl.

It is better to weep with wise men than to laugh with fools

Logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men.

Therefore kings gather round themselves men of good families, for they never forsake them either at the beginning, the middle or the end.