“I used to jog but the ice cubes kept falling out of my glass.”

“Can writing ever be taught? The best answer to that was given obliquely by the rock musician David Lee Roth. When asked if money could buy happiness he said, no, but with money you could buy the big boat and go right up to where the people were happy. With a teacher you can go right up to where the writing is done; the leap is made alone with vision, subject, passion, and instinct. So a writer comes to the page with vision in her heart and craft in her hands and a sense of what a story might be in her head. How do the three come together? My thesis is the old one: they merge in the physical writing—inside the act of writing, not from the outside. The process is the teacher.”

“I used to jog but the ice cubes kept falling out of my glass.”

“Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull up right alongside it.”

“It doesn't matter the kind of music, it doesn't matter whether it's a cowboy hat or a yarmulke. I don't care if it's outer space or pop, the spirit is the same.”

“Money can't buy happiness but it can buy a huge yacht that sails right next to it.”