Journalism is the protection between people and any sort of totalitarian rule. That's why my hero, admittedly a flawed one, is a journalist.

A kid in an abusive home has far fewer rights than any POW. There is no Geneva Convention for kids.

Building a mechanical device for its appearance is like putting lace on a bowling ball.

I don't understand people whose gratification is a BMW. You don't know what joy is until you see a kid who was tortured get adopted by a family.

I don't sign contracts for my books.

I don't take advances for my books.

I think people should be consumers of journalism.

I'm in pursuit of what cannot be achieved: perfection.

Journalism is what maintains democracy. It's the force for progressive social change.

My life is triage.

No politician is threatened by the child protective constituency, because it does not exist.

People are pushing against the fabric of society all the time.

The idea that you're not a writer until you're published is a lie.

The third person narrator, instead of being omniscient, is like a constantly running surveillance tape.

Victimizers of children are the enemies of any so-called society.

We don't protect our young, and we tolerate predators of our own species.

I believe my publisher has shown a great deal of faith in me over a lot of years but I'm not prepared to be so arrogant to say that the long-term literary value of my work would compensate them for a financial failure.