“The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with your pen or word processor.”

“Any fool who can pucker is apt to whistle past the graveyard.”

“I want to make you laugh or cry when you read a story . . .or do both at the same time. I want your heart, in other words. If you want to learn something, go to school.”

“It's best to have your tools with you. If you don't, you're apt to find something you didn't expect and get discouraged.”

“When you've had a little success, magazines are a lot less apt to use that phrase, 'Not for us.”

“You learn best by reading a lot and writing a lot, and the most valuable lessons of all are the ones you teach yourself.”

“...you'll find that God often chooses to speak through the dying and the insane...A healthy person might be apt to filter the divine message, to alter it with his or her own personality. In other words, a healthy person might make a shitty prophet.”