It's important, I think, for a writer of fiction to maintain an awareness of the pace and shape of the book as he's writing it. That is, he should be making an object, not chattering.

Reading a novel in which all characters illustrate patience, hard work, chastity, and delayed gratification could be a pretty dull experience.

What I look for in any character, good or bad, is whether I can hear him speak. If I can imagine him that clearly, then I can write about him.

If you'll think about various series you've read, can you think of any instance in which, say, the tenth volume of the series is notably better than the first nine? I can't.

I do want to write about Jane Whitefield again, but only when I have a good enough idea - something I've figured out about her that's news and that's worth a reader's time.

When I write a book, I'm making it the best book I can.

Much of what we do in life has a huge component of luck.

I do like to explore evil characters in my books.

I don't have dry seasons, because I don't allow them.

It was a lot of fun, and writing a series is comfortable. It's almost like having a secure job.

There are days when I intentionally don't write. For instance, I never write when I'm traveling, because travel is a situation where I can learn more by looking and listening than by working.

I don't think the problem is that people don't read enough mystery books, but that people don't read.

But at the same time, the commonplace statement about them is true: every character is the hero of his own story. Each has a justification for his actions that is convincing to him. It's fun to give these people voices.

I think we did a great job of putting together a program that would have made good e-books available had people been buying e-books in any real numbers.

I do try not to spend much time reading in the suspense genre.

The characters you refer to as predatory and unsavory are useful. They're the ones who make a novel into a thriller. They're active, and most of the common virtues, the signs of a good person, are not.

I do hope to bring Jane Whitefield back before too long.

I had been writing fiction since I was in eighth grade, because I loved it.

Contrary to what many writers imply about the process, nobody forces a writer to sell his work to the film industry.

You have very accurately described the difficulty of presenting my books on film: many of my characters are alone most of the time, and when they do talk, what they say is mostly lies. That can make for a pretty confusing film.

If I don't have a project going, I sit down and begin to write something - a character sketch, a monologue, a description of some sight, or even just a list of ideas.

Yes, in my books I do edit myself to keep from becoming the Village Explainer.

Once you have invented a character with three dimensions and a voice, you begin to realize that some of the things you'd like him to do to further your plot are things that such a person wouldn't, or couldn't, do.

I don't consciously do anything to maintain a unique voice.

It's important, I think, for a writer of fiction to maintain an awareness of the pace and shape of the book as he's writing it. That is, he should be making an object, not chattering.

I do have to earn a living, so I'm conscious of probable reactions from readers, but the most important one is still the awareness that if I'm not enjoying a story, the reader won't either.

Being comfortable isn't the way to learn to expand your abilities.

I held a variety of jobs - most notably ten years working in universities - and kept on writing.

All writers are mimics, and I'm not interested in picking up somebody else's style or voice.

A growing awareness of the depth of popular attachment to the family has led some liberals to concede that family is not just a buzzword for reaction.

I think there is a new awareness in this 21st century that design is as important to where and how we live as it is for museums, concert halls and civic buildings.

It makes a difference what we choose to experience during sleep. Many of us think of sleep as a chance to get away from it all. But sleep is also a chance to return to the joys of our spiritual heritage - our universal awareness.

I wanted to help raise awareness, so I created an environmental foundation called Just Within Reach.

Words do two major things: They provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness.

Is education possibly a process of trading awareness for things of lesser worth? The goose who trades his is soon a pile of feathers.

When we fall asleep, we withdraw our awareness from its hypnotic fascination with physical sensation, thereby enabling us to listen with our now awakening sixth sense.

Many of us who have experienced psychedelics feel very much that they are sacred tools. They open spiritual awareness.

Solitude sharpens awareness of small pleasures otherwise lost.

It is the awareness of unfulfilled desires which gives a nation the feeling that it has a mission and a destiny.

The infinite vibratory levels, the dimensions of interconnectedness are without end. There is nothing independent. All beings and things are residents in your awareness.

I am obsessive, also I am industrious. Besides, the time when you are most alive and most aware is in childhood and one is trying to recapture that heightened awareness.

Through educational programming, Jewish American History Month will help raise the awareness of a people, their history and contributions. It will help combat anti-Semitism, a phenomenon that is on the rise and that unfortunately still exists in our Nation.

In the 21st century, I believe the mission of the United Nations will be defined by a new, more profound awareness of the sanctity and dignity of every human life, regardless of race or religion.

In Arkansas alone, approximately three quarters of a million people are at risk of going hungry, and one in four children does not get enough to eat, so my goal is to bring awareness to this tragic issue.

I recently formed a foundation to raise awareness for prostate cancer. I feel it's very necessary that men be more aware about prostate cancer and their health in general.

Humor is perhaps a sense of intellectual perspective: an awareness that some things are really important, others not; and that the two kinds are most oddly jumbled in everyday affairs.

There's a constant drip and trickle of life that goes into one's awareness really and consciousness of things.

Meth production and use is a serious problem in Kentucky and across the country. Clearly, there is a growing need for a national strategy to combat this crisis. Increasing public awareness is a significant means for prevention.

It really lasted the whole game, because I was really untouchable, unstoppable that game. But it was heightened on one particular play, and that was the longest run where everything completely slowed down. My awareness was so keen, it was so heightened, it was really amazing.