Others can make us vulnerable and the sooner such vulnerabilities are dealt with the better

I love learning about different dialects and I own all sorts of regional and time-period slang dictionaries. I often browse through relevant ones while writing a story. I also read a lot of diaries and oral histories.

We're all vulnerable. Mix the wrong feelings together, the right kind of bad with the wrong kind of good, and you'll wind up with a total breakdown.

The greatest musicians never cared to be rock stars. They just wanted to play. The greatest actors never cared to be movie stars; they just loved their craft. The greatest artists painted on canvas to fill their own hearts. It’s how we truly feel about things in life that will determine our success.

I've always been haunted that he might have been.

What I've become convinced makes a writer are the days you hate it, the days you'd rather stick those pencils in your eyes. Sometimes I almost punish myself - if I'm not going be able to write, I'm not going be able to do anything else. I just sit there and wait.