Family Life Was Wonderful. The Streets Were

It Would Be The Death Of All Creativity For Me If I Had To Sit There And Be Concerned With The Sensibilities Of A Fourteen-year-old Kid. Some Fourteen-year-olds Would Revel In The Book, And Some Would Be Very Sensitive To It, So You Can't Afford To Worry About That. What I Worry About Is Good Taste And Getting My Message Across By Whatever Means I Can.

I Am Frightened By Today's World, Terrified By It. I Think That Comes Out In The Books. I'm Afraid Of Big Things. Some Of These Schools Have Three Thousand Kids, And Even The Size Of The Schools Frightens Me. Big Government Frightens Me; So Does Big Defense.

Do I Dare Disturb The Universe? Yes, I Do, I Do. I Think. Jerry Suddenly Understood The Poster--the Solitary Man On The Beach Standing Upright And Alone And Unafraid, Poised At The Moment Of Making Himself Heard And Known In The World, The Universe.

The Rewriting Is Always Crucial To What I Do; Whenever I Do A Scene, I Always Tell Myself That This Isn't Final And That I Can Do It Again, Better. The Pacing Is Probably From Experience. I've Always Liked Gradual Disclosure. I Keep Thinking Of My Rubber-band Theory. You Have A Rubber Band That You Keep Pulling And Pulling And Pulling, And Just At The Moment Of Snapping You Release It And Start Another Chapter And Start Pulling Again.

I Don't Think I Began To Be A Professional Writer Until I Learned My Weaknesses And What I Couldn't Do. This Forced Me To Compensate.