Dawn was written well before 9/11. People speak a lot today about the banality of evil, but not all evil is banal. Some of it is carefully structured and well-thought-out. That's where the real danger lies.

How much research I have to do depends on the nature of the story. For fantasy, none at all.

If you're crazy, there's two things you can do to make yourself feel better: One is to get yourself cured. The other is to make everyone you have to deal with crazy.

The universe is full of dead people who lived by assumption.

I have a bad tendency to get rapidly bored with my own material, so rewriting is hard for me. I mean, I already know the story and would rather read something new.

I try to challenge myself as much as possible, as often as possible.

Don't try to write to the trend of the moment.