"Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty."

"The most important things to remember about back story are that (a) everyone has a history and (b) most of it isn't very interesting."

"It's okay to be scared. Being scared means you're about to do something really, really brave."

"The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them — words make them smaller than they actually are. How can you expect people to bel…"

"I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify; and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gro…"