My work as a naval officer in World War II enabled me to serve on 49 different South Pacific islands so that I came to know the area about as well as anyone.
I think the crucial thing in the writing career is to find what you want to do and how you fit in. What somebody else does is of no concern whatever except as an interesting variation.
If you type adeptly with 10 fingers, you're typing faster than your mind is working.
If there was a turning point for me, it was 'The Bridges at Toko-Ri.' It is a very fine short novel. But it gave me very little satisfaction. Really. I decided I wasn't going to go down that avenue.
There are no insoluble problems. Only time-consuming ones.
I missed a whole cycle of childhood, but I've never used it as a device for self-pity.
