I Would Never Write A Memoir, Because

William Goldman's Marathon Man Was A Novel That Taught Me About Suspense. I Was Maybe 16 Years Old When I Read It And I Remember Thinking, "you Could Put A Gun To My Head And I Wouldn't Put This Book Down." I Loved That Feeling - And Want To Give It Others.

It Was One Lesson He Never Forgot.you Don't Sit Back When You Or A Loved One Is Being Assaulted.and You Don't Act Like The Goverment With Their "proportional Responses" And All That Nonsense.if Someone Hurts You,mercy And Pity Must Be Put Aside,you Eliminate The Enemy.you Scorch The Earth.

What I Want To Do Is Tell Stories About Normal People In The American Suburbs. I Don't Write The Book Where It's A Conspiracy Reaching The Prime Minister; I Don't Write The Book With The Big Serial Killer Who Lops Off Heads. My Setting Is A Very Placid Pool Of Suburbia, Family Life. And Within That I Can Make Pretty Big Splashes.

A Dancer On Break Approached Him. She Smiled. Each Tooth Was Angled In A Different Direction, As If Her Mouth Were The Masterwork Of A Mad Orthodontist. "hi," She Said. "hi." "you're Really Cute." "i Don't Have Any Money." She Spun And Walked Away. Ah, Romance.

What I Love About The Thriller Form Is That It Makes You Write A Story. You Can't Get Lost In Your Own Genius, Which Is A Dangerous Place For Writers. You Don't Want To Ever Get Complacent. If A Book Starts Going Too Well, I Usually Know There's A Problem. I Need To Struggle. I Need That Self-doubt. I Need To Think It's Not The Best Thing Ever.