As A Little Kid, I Wanted To Play With A Knife...

From the April Esquire, in which Elmore Leonard, at 79, tells us what he's learned:

Bad guys are not bad guys twenty-four hours a day.

As a little kid, I wanted to play with a knife and my mother wouldn't let me. I cried and she gave me a rubber one. I said, "Mom, a rubber knife just doesn't do it."

The best thing about my kids is the fact that I can count on them. I knew they'd understand when I married somebody their age.

A line of dialogue is not clear enough if you need to explain how it's said.

I was brought up Catholic. I don't go to receive the sacrament anymore. But it's important to me to go through this little drill about what my purpose is before I get out of bed every morning.

A pen connects you to the paper. It definitely matters.

I gave a talk in Florida and became friends with a judge who invited me to his home. He showed me his gardens and orchids. Then he showed me some photos. One was of a guy with a butcher knife in his head. Another was of a car that had been buried underground with a cadaver in it...He also showed me a photograph of a dead chicken that had been sexually violated.

Don't be surprised at anything untoward that you come across.