The English probably do that wordplay KIND of humour and whimsy better than ANYONE, and I've always felt that my WRITING GOES more to that than what I did when I came to AUSTRALIA.

When I'm not writing or tweaking my COMPUTER, I do embroidery. When I'm not plunging into the past, tweaking, or embroidering, I'm READING books about HISTORY, COMPUTERS, or embroidery.

Since I believe that a person's philosophical point of VIEW has little meaning if it is not matched by being and action, I found myself willingly wed to an ENDLESS SERIES of unpopular CAUSES, experiences which I feel enriched my WRITING as much as they depleted other aspects of my life.

If I STOPPED writing and being at my PIANO, I wouldn't KNOW how to live. It's your best friend.

LEARN as MUCH by WRITING as by READING.

WRITING is MANUAL LABOR of the MIND - LIKE laying pipe.

WRITING CRITICISM is to writing FICTION and poetry as HUGGING the shore is to sailing in the open sea.

I started writing songs when I was 10. It was a NATURAL way to EXPRESS myself as a kid. It wasn't until I started listening to jazz, joined the CHOIR and picked up a guitar that my little HOBBY became something FAR more serious.

As a CHILD, I had no interest in science whatsoever - then I started WRITING and RECOGNIZED how relevant it was. My first book about science and medicine captured the WORLD of organ transplantation in 1989 from the points of view of all of the participants - SCIENTISTS, surgeons, social workers, organ recipients and even donor families.

I got TIRED of depending on other people, and I had this strong desire to make music of my own. I decided to start writing my own TUNES and just SEE what could HAPPEN.

I always THOUGHT that poetry is the verdict that others give to a CERTAIN kind of writing. So to CALL yourself a POET is a kind of dangerous DESCRIPTION. It's for others; it's for others to use.

I just love music. I love writing songs. It's not even a JOB; it's a gift. I'm waiting for SOMEONE to kick me out of the party because I snuck in here, and I keep thinking somebody's GOING to figure out that I have no clue. TURNS out that most of them have even LESS of a clue.

Before I ever BEGIN WRITING a new STORY, I have to sketch my characters out on PAPER. It's part of my PROCESS of understanding who they are.

Easy reading is DAMN hard WRITING. But if it's right, it's easy. It's the other way round, too. If it's slovenly WRITTEN, then it's hard to read. It doesn't give the reader what the careful WRITER can give the reader.

It's HARD for me to FEEL BAD when I'm WRITING WELL.