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I began writing early - very, very early... I was already writing short stories for the radio and selling poems to poetry and art festivals; I was involved in school plays; I wrote essays, so there was no definite moment when I said, 'Now I'm a writer.' I've always been a writer.

I have no doubt I was someone very interesting in a past life.

I think I would have been a writer, anyhow, in the sense of having written a story every now and then, or continued writing poetry. But it was the war experience and the two novels I wrote about Vietnam that really got me started as a professional writer.

I've basically thought of myself as a writer, whether I was or not.

Of course, I have to consider that I've written a lot of prose, but I do in my heart think of myself as being originally, and still primarily, a poet.

I believe in reincarnation, and I believe I've lived quite a few lives.

Someone who was a part of my life. Probably the only one that really mattered.

I surrendered to a world of my imagination, reenacting all those wonderful tales my father would read aloud to me. I became a very active reader, especially history and Shakespeare.

I think I became a writer because I didn't know of anything else to do. Maybe some incident from my childhood influenced me.