“I am by profession an agent and no writer, so you will have to pardon any lack of literary flourish.”

“We writers are a crazy group. I can't think of any other profession where the actual work is deep within, uncomfortable, and wanting out.”

“You have to remember that I was a bright but simple fellow from Canada who seldom, if ever, met another writer, and then only a so-called literary type that occasionally sold a story and meanwhile worked in an office for a living.”

“I am going to become a writer for Cosmo - you don’t have to make any sense at all. Or maybe I’ll be a bloke, they don’t have to make sense either.”

“First you say I am a murderer - an agent in league against you - and now I am a deluded heartsick girl! Pray make up your mind so I can scoff at you with precision!”

“He was a secret agent, and still alive thanks to his exact attention to the detail of his profession.”