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" Psychologically, it's always more pleasurable to blame others for our problems than it is to acknowledge our own responsibility. "

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" I have a long-standing interest in what I like to think of as 'forbidden knowledge:' methods of unarmed killing, lock picking, breaking and entry, spy stuff, and other things that the government wants only a few select individuals to know. "

" The Internet is a limitless library at your fingertips. It's a great place to start with the acquisition of knowledge. My process is to go to a place when I'm writing about it. Nothing captures the essence, feeling and flavor of a place better than when I'm actually there and doing the writing. "

" Overall, one of the things that excites me most about self-publishing is that the highest-value use of my time in promoting the books will be found in writing more of them. "

" Publishing, legacy or indie, is a vehicle, and you can't opine about whether someone has chosen the right vehicle if you don't know where she intends to drive it. "

" The two most important things to do for self-defense are not to take a martial arts class or get a gun, but to think like the opposition and know where you're most at risk. "

" I read pretty eclectically - fiction, non-fiction, and poetry - and I've been inspired and influenced by a number of writers. "

" The difference between being a victim and a survivor is often a low level of situational awareness. You can't be a super-spy, watchful and paranoid every day. But I am more watchful than the average American. "

" What I care about is readers because without readers I can't make a living... And I think it's a bad thing for the world if people don't read anymore. I want people to read a lot. "

" After I sold my screenplay adaptation of 'Rain Fall' to Sony Pictures, I had no more creative involvement. "

" Anger, and the self-righteousness that is both the cause and consequence of anger, tends to be easier on the psyche than personal responsibility. "

" I've loved thrillers and spy stories since I was a kid. It's probably not a bad rule of thumb to write the kinds of stories you love to read. "

" I was with the CIA for only three years. I worked in the Directorate of Operations, which is now called the National Clandestine Service. It's the part of the organization where the spies live. I didn't have much experience beyond the training. "

" If the reader cares, I don't think it matters so much whether your hero is in fact an anti-hero. "

" When I think of a story, somehow it just always seems to come out involving spooks and spies and government skullduggery. "

" I love Japan, and Tokyo is my favorite city. "

" When I was in college, I became interested in various aspects of foreign policy and international relations. Even as a kid, I was interested in what I call, loosely speaking, forbidden knowledge. "

" Books are my art. The movie is someone else's art. But it's great marketing for books. "

" Publishing for me is a business, not an ideology. "

" I'm not sure why I'm so drawn to heroes who do bad things and to villains who think they're the good guys, but I do find that moral ambiguity and conflict makes for great characters. "

" I can understand the allure of a venerable Big Six imprint, of a shot at the New York Times list, of a publisher-sponsored book tour, of seeing your hardbacks in bookstores and your paperbacks in supermarkets. "

" From the outside, the CIA seems pretty exotic, but from the inside, it's a big, bureaucratic place. Think 'post office with spies.' "

" I want to position my books as premium-priced versions on the reasonably-priced scale, if that makes sense, to find a sweet spot between the high-end of what my brand can support and the low end that results in impulse purchases and maximum sales volume. "

" There's an awful lot of corruption in Japanese business and politics, corruption of the sort that can make for great setting for a spy story. "

" Stephen King has inspired me with his humor and honesty, and his admonition that the author's job is to tell the truth. "