“I always start writing with a clean piece of paper and a dirty mind. ”

“Daddy always said that Christmas is a joyous season when suicides and holdups and shoplifting and like that reach a new high and that the best place to spend the whole thing is a Moslem country.”

“she thought that 9Am was in the middle of the night”

“Oh, darling, you know we writers must occasionally stretch a point to heighten the dramatic situation. ”

“Why darling, I'm your Auntie Mame!”

“Death has always had a prominent place in my mind. There are times when I think somebody might kill me.”

“There was a time when I thought I turned terrible things over in my mind because I read and wrote too many scary stories. (Note self: start writing about unicorns and bunnies)”