How do you 'accidentally' kill a noble man in his own mansion?" "With a knife in the chest. Or, rather, a pair of knives in the chest.

Fantasy has had some problems with being too repetitive, in my opinion. I try to read what other people are doing - and say, 'How can I add to this rather than just recycle it? How can I stand on Tolkien's shoulders rather than stand tied to his kneecaps?

This is going to take a while. I'm a fantasy author. We have trouble with the concept of brevity.

The most dangerous kind of man is not the one who spent his youth shoving others around. That kind of man gets lazy, and is often too content with his life to be truly dangerous. The man who spent his youth being shoved around, however … When that man gets a little power and authority, he often uses it to become a tyrant on par with the worst warlords in history.

It was amazing how many books one could fit into a room, assuming one didn't want to move around very much.

Too many of us take great pains with what we ingest through our mouths, and far less with what we partake of through our ears and eyes.

A thing of nature. For every Push, there is a Pull. A consequence.