I've read Lois Lowry's The Giver at least three times. My heart races each time I reach the point when the Giver allows Jonas, the Receiver, to watch on a television screen exactly what it is his (Jonas') father does. If I could write a YA novel as well conceived, fleshed-out and written as that I'd... I'd... Well, I'd feel that I'd accomplished something fine in this ol' world.

Just re-read Ibsen's A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler and Master Builder; when I was in college he was my favorite playwright. Hedda Gabler, to my way of thinking, is Ibsen's most interesting character -- but as evil as they come.

Also read Is Paris Burning, written in 1968. It reads like a thriller -- a page turner -- and it's all true.