I think about the story while I think about other things. This is an important part of the process: I look at it sideways. If I look straight at it, it produces nothing other than what seem like complicated, brilliant designs that fall apart the following morning. In some way stories mature when you're not looking.

An unjust world represented as harmonious is a political position.

We hated pretentiousness; it was a form of self-hatred.

Where can you go from nowhere, except deeper into nowhere?

Everyone operates within their own domain and obviously those domains overlap to a great extent.

The beauty of literature - also its limit - is that it is inescapably personal, even if you're writing science fiction.

I suppose I'm interested in sorrow, which is very different from depression or despair. Sorrow is continuous with the world; it allows for creativity.