Advances have fallen, generally, for everything except the biggest potential bestsellers. Given all the changes, both economic and technological, SF hasn't done too badly.

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.

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

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

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

Getting inside the mind of a terrorist wasn't difficult at all. Even as children, human beings fabricate elaborate revenge fantasies. We're not a particular species. Check out popular video games.

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