I'm not a good collaborator in general.

Common folk didn't have last names in the 8th and 9th centuries.

If they aren't real enough to surprise me, then they aren't real enough to go on the page.

Very few editors worry about heresy - their goals are much too commercial, thank goodness.

Providing a writer isn't put off by conventions - and some are - attending them can be a nice break from the necessary isolation of writing.

When you're a mid-list writer, it pays to write fast.

I outline fairly extensively because I'm usually dealing with real events. I don't need to give myself as much information as I used to, but I still like to have two pages of outline for every projected 100 pages of manuscript.