I think the Internet, particularly the availability of information, is great. I do a lot of correspondence on-line and have a chat line to talk to my fans as well

Mostly I'm telling people that they don't have to be victims

I'm 78, I'm on my pension in Ireland, and all that good stuff

I would recommend the short story form, which is a lot harder to write since you have to be so careful with words, until there is plenty of time to doodle through a novel

Because we build the worlds we wouldn't mind living in. They contain scary things, problems, but also a sense of rightness that makes them alive and makes us want to live there.

To cry was to release all sorts of ugly little pressures and tensions. Like waking out of a long, dark dream to a sun-filled day.

I think writers need windows on a view to remind them that a whole world is out there, not the minutiae with which they might be dealing on a close scale