I have a shelf of comfort books, which I read when the world closes in on me or something untoward happens

But Ship Who Sang remains my favorite story. I really rocked folks with that and still cannot read it aloud myself without weeping at the end

The horse, the noblest, bravest, proudest, most courageous and certainly the most perverse and infuriating animal that humans ever domesticated

I don't often reread my own books, unless I am going into another in the series and need to refresh my mood when originating the concept

James Blish told me I had the worst case of "said bookism" (that is, using every word except said to indicate dialogue). He told me to limit the verbs to said, replied, asked, and answered and only when absolutely necessary.

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

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