I don't write police stories, per se, but I usually write about areas that are very panoramic, like Harlem, or the Lower East Side, or a small urban ….

And what is the religion of many persons but a kind of demonism that delights in human sacrifices and causes them to look with horror on the greatest….

I think the definition of an artist is not necessarily tied into excellence or talent; an artist is somebody who, if you took away their freedom to m….

Writers spend three years rearranging 26 letters of the alphabet. It's enough to make you lose your mind day by day.

The first thing to look out for after your first big success are drugs and screenplays..

You don't write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid's burnt socks lying in the road..

Tremble, all ye oppressors of the world!.

I write because I can't imagine not writing..

I don't need all that much - I just need to know who my characters are and what kind of jam they're going to get into, and I'll write myself out of t….

I'd love to be a saxophonist. I don't know why, but I pretend I'm the saxophonist when I listen to music. I have about as much chance playing the sax….

The kind of event on a conveyor belt that causes a fire occurs in a variety of industrial environments, not uniquely in coal environments..

As the industry has matured, real estate has become a very accepted investment. Institutions have used core investments to get comfortable with real ….

You can't take a character anywhere they don't expect the character to go. But within those confines is where creativity lies.

I write because I write - as anyone in the arts does. You're a painter because you feel you have no choice but to paint. You're a writer because this….

Beat him, eat him and get out..

I started thinking about my relationship with my students; I'm this guy who comes in from book - and movie - land and descends on angel wings into th….

The bigger the issue, the smaller you write..

The bigger the issue, the smaller you write. Remember that. You don't write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid's burnt socks lying o….

In a given scene I may know nothing more than how it's supposed to end, most of the time not even that. Scenes are improvised. A character does or sa….

If you're writing a book that takes place in New York in the moment, you can't not write about 9-11; you can't not integrate it. My main character's ….

I do small cameos here and there but nothing that requires more than a paragraph of talking, because I'm just an amateur. The movie is a whole differ….