"Give them a character they love.  You have to have a character that people empathize with.  And then you have to have one of those moments of universal emotion." (on the key to great story that gets people talking)

"We are paid to make the reader love, hate, dislike, admire.  We're paid to torture our characters because it tortures the reader.  And that's what keeps them turning the page.  They want to see things turn out OK."

"Why am I getting critically reviewed, a lot of award nominations, a lot of recognition, but [not] selling?  What I started realizing was, I wasn't branded.  I just didn't have a big enough audience."

"What I try to emphasize to beginning writers is what Jim [James] Rollins said to me once: 'It takes time.'  And what I've come to realize is, he didn't mean time chronologically.  He meant it takes time to build up your portfolio of books and then for one of those books to hit."