It's possible to become so comfortable with one's style and structure that one ceases to grow.

I've read short stories that are as dense as a 19th century novel and novels that really are short stories filled with a lot of helium.

I'm dense when it comes to discouragement.

I do have a small collection of traditional SF ideas which I've never been able to sell. I'm known as a fantasy writer and neither my agent nor my editors want to risk my brand by jumping genre.

Ideas aren't magical; the only tricky part is holding on to one long enough to get it written down.

I'm a writer first and an editor second... or maybe third or even fourth. Successful editing requires a very specific set of skills, and I don't claim to have all of them at my command.

A good short-story writer has an instinct for sketching in just enough background to ground the specific story.

When I'm not writing or tweaking my computer, I do embroidery. When I'm not plunging into the past, tweaking, or embroidering, I'm reading books about history, computers, or embroidery.

During the many centuries that magic, here on this planet, was presumed to have worked, there were at least as many theories as to how magic worked as there were cultures and religions.

There is nothing that compares to an unexpected round of applause.

I think my prose reads as if English were my second language. By the time I get to the end of a paragraph, I'm dodging bullets and gasping for breath.

I'm not sure I've ever profited on the legacy of Watergate.

Humility is recognizing the fullness of our sin, so we can embrace the fullness of God's mercy.

There’s fear and violence under the surface. One always follows the other.

What cannot be done today, will not be done tomorrow. We will find bigger excuses!

Too often, I think, children are required to write before they have anything to say. Teach them to think and read and talk without self-repression, and they will write because they cannot help it.

Every artist gets asked the question, 'Where do you get your ideas?' The honest artist answers, 'I steal them.'

Veep is the best and most realistic political TV show out there.

Where is fancy bred, in the heart or in the head?

In F1 too many things overshadow the racing. There is too much politics.

Either make your money work for you or you will always have to work for your money.