We liked to believe there is an alternate world, a better world, populated entirely by characters created by the yearnings of humanity–governing and inspiring themselves with all the lucidity wit which we rendered them.

Books do pretend …but squeezed in between is even more that is true—without what you may call the lies, the pages would be too light for the truth, you see?

The novel is perhaps the highest art form because it so closely resembles life: it is about human relationships. It’s technique, page by page, resembles our technique of living day by day–a way of relating.

I tapped around on my new Miracle Phone—a gift from Joseph—as I listened to the discussion about our next move. I wasn’t trying to be rude, but I’d recently become addicted to this one game...

There’s something in there,” Matt said. “Something alive. It punched me.””Punched you?” Baldwin’s face screwed up. “Are you sure a bat didn’t fly into you? I bet there are a few in there.”Matt rubbed his...

The only way to build a fan base is to have a lot of material out there for readers to find. You can’t manufacture a fan base. You create it, one story at a time.

Man may deceive his fellow-men, deception may follow deception, and the children of the wicked one may have power to seduce the foolish and untaught, till naught but fiction feeds the many, and the fruit...

What do you insolent merfolks want with me now? I swear I haven’t eaten any of your children.”-Ursula

Heavy is the head that holds the pen of creation. We construct these characters from nothing, molding them from our imaginations. We give them hopes and dreams and unique personalities until they feel so real...

An exceptional woman with all the desired qualities exists only in a man’s imagination.

Because beautiful things never last. Not roses nor snow… And not fireworks, either

How you spend your time when you are not working or studying says everything about who you are and what is motivating your life.

The black bird cocked its head to one side, and then said, in a voice like stones being struck, ‘You shadow man.”I’m Shadow,’ said Shadow. The bird hopped up onto the fawn’s rump, raised its...

Do you know what we call opinion in the absence of evidence? We call it prejudice.

Is there anything more plausible than a second hand? And yet it takes only the smallest pleasure or pain to teach us time’s malleability. Some emotions speed it up, others slow it down; occasionally, it...

Come on, it’s an American tradition. Apple soup? Mom’s homemade chicken pie?’ She chuckled in spite of herself, then winced. ‘It’s apple pie and Mom’s homemade chicken soup. But you didn’t do badly, for a...

If you find that you’re going through hell, keep moving. You will get to the end eventually.

He was there below me, and, upon my word, to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a featherhat, walking on his hind legs.

Confession is good for the soul even after the soul has been claimed” (p. 381).

Mankind has a mandate to care for the earth and all that is within it, especially the animals, and an animal should never be placed in a position where he needs to be concerned about...

Ô, wine!, the truth-serum so potent that all those who wish to live happy lives should abstain from drinking it entirely!… except of course when they are alone.

Fiction is overrated, Fly. We’ve discussed this. In the time it takes those novelist fuckers to contemplate a few poetic passages, a thousand kids die from malnutrition. Immediacy, man, that’s what counts.

Sarucha (age 8): “Look, down there, I recognize it, ciudad de Jerusalén (the city of Jerusalem)! Jerusalén!, Jerusalén!” she exclaimed.

The times have changed and now the story is old, but yet it all remains the same, a victim in the cold.

If freedom is free and none need worry, then what blood drops for thee?

You know, one of the interesting things you find about writing fiction is that any fiction you write has to be political. Otherwise, it goes into the realm of fantasy. So like, if you write...

Of all God’s creatures, only man kills with malice. Only man kills out of vengeance.

As he drove away from his handiwork, knowing he’d left no survivors, the killer looked at the rising smoke and gave himself a pat on the back for another assignment well done…

Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. We can’t talk about science, because our knowledge of it is limited and unofficial, and usually our fiction is dreadful.

What are we, Charlie’s Angels?

…all I knew were novels. It gave me pause, for a moment, that all my reference points were fiction, that all my narratives were lies.

As a reader you recognise that feeling when you’re lost in a book? You know the one – when whatever’s going on around you seems less real than what you’re reading and all you want...

I knew nothing of death, and, for some unexplainable reason, I was beginning to feel guilty for that. -Jessica

I wonder, what kind of life would I have had if it hadn’t been for my mother’s tea-and-cookie parties? Perhaps it’s because of them that I’ve never thought of women as my enemies, as territories...

As I pen these words to leave a lasting record, I wonder myself where it all began.

I get tired of hearing some science-fiction fans saying that characterization isn’t important in SF. In point of fact, I think it’s probably more important in SF than in mainstream fiction. After all, if the...

A good friend will help you move, but a true friend will help you move a body.

If you want to know the reality, just subtract the things that you think are real from your mind. Now the remaining is the reality.

I once believed that life was a gift. I thought whatever I wanted I would someday possess. Is that greed, or only youth? Is it hope or stupidity? As far as I was concerned the...

Maryanne Burkhard and I have set up a B W Wrighthard profile on Goodreads. If any of you would like to friend us there, we would really appreciate it. And if you’re feeling really generous...

The days I’d passed with my mom before she died were still there, it seemed, seared into the corners of my heart.The atmosphere of the station brought it all back. I could see myself running...

Writing is the one thing I know I will never grow tired of in life; the one thing I could do until the day I die and still feel like I haven’t done enough.

Being a single parent on a part-time basis is tricky to navigate. That is what a racing widow has to do.

Ranerio wrapped his hand around mine, guiding my fingers like Lucius had done when he’d shown me the latch behind the dressing-room door mirror. But while the warrior I loved had been offering me an...

Cynicism can blind one to subtler virtues

Although the villagers rose with the sun to work the fields, attend to the animals, bake their bread, and begin their long list of chores, for me, Leya Truelong, this was a day like no...

I believe a family just isn’t complete without skeletons. My dearest momma clean bit off my daddy’s nose right around the time they divorced.

Darkness crept through. Shadows pried at doors, teased dull edges of recollections that never quite took hold. Memories that would have shriveled under the blinding sun of daylight. And reason.

Is it possible that the Pentateuch could not have been written by uninspired men? that the assistance of God was necessary to produce these books? Is it possible that Galilei ascertained the mechanical principles of...

(Out of the Shadow is) Exceptional….Meticulously plotted, beautifully paced, its an intelligent, fascinating story that draws you in.I couldn’t put it down, a great read..Winn, masterfully weaves together the lives of characters into a rich...