I read The Old Curiosity Shop before I began Blackwood Farm. I was amazed at the utter madness in that book.

I was obsessed with religious questions, the basics: Why are we here? Why is the world so beautiful?

I wish we had more visible Christian and Catholic leaders who talked about love.

I'm definitely more influenced by European writers than I am by American writers, there's no doubt about that.

I'm fascinated by almost any mythology that I can get my hands on.

I'm usually working on my own mythology, my own realm of created characters. Stories in mythology inspire me, though I may not be conscious of it.

Invest in a feather duster - the possibilities are endless.

It is tragic that many in America think of us - Christians - as being people who hate others.

Memnoch the Devil happen to be my favorite of all The Vampire Chronicles.

Obviously, a writer can't know everything about what she writes. It's impossible.

Re-telling the Christian story is the essence of my vocation. That has been going on since the Evangelists in one form or another.

The only pain in pleasure is the pleasure of the pain.

The world doesn't need any more mediocrity or hedged bets.

There may be writing groups where people meet but it's occasional. You really do it all at your own computer or your own typewriter by yourself.

We have to become saints. We have to become like Christ. Anything less is simply not enough.

We're frightened of what makes us different.

When I write something, every word of it is meant. I can't say it enough.

When you make his sandwiches, put a sexy or loving note in his lunch box.

Writers, as they gain success, feel like outsiders because writers don't come together in real groups.

You can look at the New York Times Bestseller List and you can be pretty sure that the writers on that list don't know each other very well.