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

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

Evil is always possible. Goodness is a difficulty.

Obsession led me to write. It's been that way with every book I've ever written. I become completely consumed by a theme, by characters, by a desire to meet a challenge.

Hard work is the key for success.

You should put time into learning your craft. It seems like people want success so quickly, way before they're ready.

I think it's one of the secret sauces to our success, if you will, is that our fans are a part of our show. They engage, they chant, they cheer, they boo. There's a problem when they don't react. So, in essence, every live event is like a focus group. So we are getting that real-time feedback from them in the arena.

There are, no doubt, as many conceptualizations of the good life as there are lives that aspire to it, but surely one of the most important pathways to its achievement begins with the desire to seek what is good - for the self, for those we love, for 'our neighbor,' for our earth.