The Swords were still interesting but by then a cast of characters had started to appear and go on from book to book, and other things about the world began to feel constricting. And there were other things I wanted to do, so I closed the series up and stopped it.

Probably all the books I've ever written have been efforts to define the boundaries of humanity.

I wouldn't like to just do one story or one type of stories all the time.

I started writing seriously about 1960, at the fairly advanced age of 30.

I finally decided one day, reading science fiction magazines of the time, I could do at least as well as some of these people are doing. So I finally made a serious effort.

I am generally way out of touch with trends, except now and then I am surprised to find myself leading one, like sympathetic vampires.

The comments I most appreciate come from ordinary readers who've happened on one of my books at some time of stress in their lives, and who actually credit the book with helping them through a bad time. It's happened a few times in forty years.