“Writing a novel is like pottery. Your initial draft of your story is like a lump of clay. Editing is like shaping that piece of clay into something interesting and beautiful.”

“I think you're like one of your own lumps of clay, Andy. God has a plan for you, and He's trying to get you into the center of it, and you keep dodging and slithering away.”

“Agatha Clay: "I've never had coffee. Lilith said a young lady shouldn't drink stimulants."Zeetha: "Drink your coffee like a warrior."Agatha Clay: "...Yes, Zeetha.”

“For as from the same piece of clay a potter may fashion either a pot or a tile, so the Devil may shape a witch into a wolf or a cat or even a goat, without subtracting from her and without adding to her at all. For this occurs just as clay is first molded into one, then shaped into another form, for the Devil is a potter and his witches are but clay.”

“I find writing novels a challenge, writing stories a joy. If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden.”

“Let me tell you something about meditation. At the absolute center, is the vortex we are spun from like clay, there is a shaping hand which is neither Godlike nor peaceful as you imagine.”