In All My Stories And

I Have Learned As Much About Writing About My People By Listening To Blues And Jazz And Spirituals As I Have From Reading Novels. The Understatements In The Tenor Saxophone Of Lester Young, The Crystal, Haunting, Forever Searching Sounds Of John Coltrane, And The Softness And Violence Of Count Basie's Big Band - All Have Fired My Imagination As Much As Anything In Literature.

I Try To Write Something That Would Interest Anybody And Keep Them Turning The Page. You Must Have A Plot And Good Storyline.

"you Going Back," She Said. "you Ain't Going To Run Away From This, Grant."

...my Heart May Have Been In It But My Soul Was Not.

You Learn From Music, From Watching Great Athletes At Work - How Disciplined They Are, How They Move. You Learn These Things By Watching A Shortstop At Work, How He Concentrates On One Thing At A Time. You Learn From Classic Music, From The Blues And Jazz, From Bluegrass. From All This, You Learn How To Sustain A Great Line Without Bringing In Unnecessary Words.