There Are Things In This Universe That

Even Though I May Not Intend It When I Set Out To Write The Book, These Places Just Emerge As Major Players In What I'm Doing, Almost As If They Are Insisting On It.

Writers Shouldn’t Underestimate The Difficulty Of What They’re Doing, And They Should Treat It With Great Seriousness. You’re Doing Something That Really Matters, You’re Telling Stories That Have An Impact On Other People And On The Culture. You Should Tell The Best Stories You Can Possibly Tell And Put Everything You’ve Got Into It.

You Should Learn To Say Nothing That Will Cause You Regret. You Should Not Say What Is Not In Your Heart - Or What Is Only In Your Heart For A Moment. But You Know This - Silence Is Better.

I Was Aware That There Is An Expectation That Writers Inevitably Falter At This Stage, That They Fail To Live Up To The Promise Of Their First Successful Book, That The Next Book Never Pleases The Way The Prior One Did. It Simply Increased My Sense Of Being Challenged.

The Status Quo Was Rote Memorization And Recitation In Classrooms Thronged With Passive Children Who Were Sternly Disciplined When They Expressed Individual Needs.