"When I’m thinking about the book I’m working on, the ultimate goal is always, of course, just simply to write the best book I can write and to understand the book that’s been given to me to write. So that I can create it appropriately." - Hubert Shelby Jr.

"I learn something from everybody. And I read with kind of a different -- I read to pay attention to the voice. I pay attention to how they write dialogue. I pay attention to how they resolve conflict, how they form structure, the rhythm of a story." -Khaled Hosseini