There is a certain fate to the universe and a certain randomness.

In the end, we know what makes us happy. We also know what makes us unhappy. That's the irony. We know and yet we still mess it up. That's part of the human condition, no, and why we need to work on it.

I once worked as a tour guide in the Costa del Sol of Spain.

Whatever fortune Franch Ache had amassed, the man never dis spend it on clothes. He favored chintzy velour sweatsuits, like something the guys on Lost in Space might consider casual wear.

In real life, coincidences happen all the time. In novels, they are leapt upon with fury.

An hour before his world exploded like a ripe tomato under a stiletto heel, Myron bit into a fresh pastry that tasted suspiciously like urinal cake.

At half-court, the goateed Sandy Duncan started calling for Ted again. His coterie followed suit. The name Ted bounced around the arena like rolled-up balls of Silly Putty.

If I had, say, a tall, amateur male lead living on the campus of a rural college (Six Years), the next book might feature a short, cop who lives in the heart of Manhattan (Missing You).

You bring your own weather to the picnic.

I always say three things make a writer: inspiration, obviously; perspiration, doing the work. But the third is desperation. I'm not really fit for anything else, or to have a real job. That fear drives me. The pressure has always been self inflicted.

More than once, I've wished my real life had a delete key.

They got back to the house late. Myron's father was feigning sleep in the recliner. Some habits die hard. Myron woke him up. He startled to consciousness. Pacino never overacted his much.

We're called New Jersey but we're actually the suburbs of New York.

Cherish and take of what you value. Happiness is fragile. Appreciate every moment and do everything you to protect it.

You hear about adrenaline, how it spurs you on and gives you uncanny strength, but there's a flip side. The feeling is heady, out of control. It heightens your senses to the point of paralysis. You have to harness the power or it'll choke you down.

Frankly I'm fairly boring or fairly busy. Between writing and family, I have little time for anything else.

I'm the Jerry Lewis of crime fiction.

There's always a price you pay when you lie. Once you introduce a lie into a relationship, even for the best of intentions, it is always there. Whenever you're with that person again, that lie is in the room too. It sits on your shoulder. Good lie or bad lie, it's in the room with you forever now. It's your constant companion.

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.

I'm not very happy idle.