As A Citizen Of The Post-historical Variety,

I Write A Lot By Sound. One Sound Leads Me To Another. These Sounds Aren't Random; They Have Their Own Logic.

All Good Writing Is Built One Good Line At A Time. You Build A Novel The Same Way You Do A Pyramid. One Word, One Stone At A Time, Underneath A Full Moon While The Fingers Bleed.

I Know California Isn't A Real Destination. You Can't Get There From New Jersey, Not Simply By Following A Line Drawn On A Map. The Process Of Arrival Is More Subtle And Complex. It Involves Acts Of Contrition. You Must Appease The Gods. You Must Find Novel Forms Of Penance. You Must Tattoo Your Children And Look At The Wonder. It's About Conjuring And Awakening And Intuitions You Wish You Never Had.

I Believed In Immaculate Conception And Spontaneous Combustion. I Believed In Aliens From Outer Space And Vampires, Prophecy, And The Resurrection Of The Dead. I Had Deja Vu Many Times Each Day. I Was Thirteen.

If You Can Be Anything Else But A Writer, Be It.