“I start with a tingle, a kind of feeling of the story I will write. Then come the characters, and they take over, they make the story.”

“Character development is vital when writing a strong story. Weak characters make for weak stories.”

“I was starting to believe I was a character in a greater story, which is why the elements of story made sense in the first place.”

“In some ways, I don’t feel as if I had a choice. Looking back at my childhood, even before I could read and write, I was making up stories. I love reading and I love telling stories, and the times in my life when I’ve tried to ignore that part of me, I’ve gone a little crazy. Characters start tugging on my sleeves, words start haunting me, and I feel generally unsatisfied. Really, being a writer sounds more like a mental illness than a professional choice.”

“Just when I figured out how to quiet the characters in my head, the multiple stories my creative muse wants me to write started screaming for attention!”

“I write - and read - for the sake of the story... My basic test for any story is: 'Would I want to meet these characters and observe these events in real life? Is this story an experience worth living through for its own sake? Is the pleasure of contemplating these characters an end itself?”