Part of the appeal of the fantastic is taking ridiculous ideas very seriously and pretending they're not absurd.

But I do think it's important to remember that writers do not have a monopoly of wisdom on their books. They can be wrong about their own books, they can often learn about their own books.

One of the things that I love so much about fantasy and science fiction is that the weirdness that it creates is always at its best completely its own end and also metaphorically and symbolically laden.

The best way to write a novel is to do it behind your own back.

Personally I don't like it when writers become excessively proscriptive about the way that people read their books.

...where's the skill in being a hero if you were always destined to do it?

I love it when people want to interpret my books.