I'm sure that growing up in the Midwest played a role in my chronic escapism. In fact, before I lived in France, I lived in Japan, England, and Bulgaria. I was determined to experience other places and cultures, particularly because I had the perception that I'd been cut off from these experiences as a child.

But, most important, we must not become as base and treacherous as our enemies.

I think angels definitely offer all the imaginative possibilities that vampires do, and I think they've actually been popular in Western culture for longer than vampires have been. I hope they become a part of the culture again in a new way.

I always knew I wanted to write really imaginative fiction - fiction that was very different from my real life.

Even the good angels, I think, would inspire in humans some sort of fear.

Beautiful music plays, but not everyone with ears can hear it.

I started listening to the Cure around the time I discovered Joy Division and, like Joy Division, they have shaped my taste in all sorts of dark and dreary ways.