Words Themselves Are Innocuous; It Is The

Home. It's Being New And Old All Rolled Into One. Measuring Your New Against Old Friends, Old Ways, Old Places, Knowing That As Long As The Old Survives, You Can Keep Changing As Much As You Want Without The Nightmare Of Waking Up To A Total Stranger.

Writers Are Voracious Readers. Once I Unlocked The Mystery Of The Alphabet That Led To Words, A Multitude Of Words Connecting Me To The World, There Was No Stopping Me. Everything Was Fair Game, From Louisa May Alcott To My Older Cousin's True Romance Magazines, From Lewis Carroll To The Backs Of Cereal Boxes. All Of This Fed Me, But It Took Certain Books To Make Me Grow. I Don't Want To Work Without A Sense Of Drama, Without Passion, Or Without Both Eyes Open To The World Around Me.

That's One Of The Privileges Of Old Age - You Can Give Plenty Of Advice 'cause Most Folks Think That's All You Got Left Anyway.

I Don't Believe That Life Is Supposed To Make You Feel Good, Or To Make You Feel Miserable Either. Life Is Just Supposed To Make You Feel.

We Get So Caught Up In What A Man Isn't. It's What He Is That Counts.