They will not love me, you say? When have they ever loved me? How can I lose something I have never owned? - Stannis

He understood the way that you could sometimes fall right into them, as if each page was a hole into another world.

Swords have been my life, not books. But every child knows that the Targaryens have always danced too close to madness. Your father was not the first. King Jaehaerys once told me that madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Every time a new Targaryen is born, he said, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land.

Ideas are cheap. I have more ideas now than I could ever write up. To my mind, it's the execution that is all-important.

Ser Cleos looked like a weasel, fought like a goose, and had the courage of an especially brave ewe.

You do not steal from the dragon, oh, no. The dragon remembers.

I've written some standalone novels, but a book series allows fans in. There's much more intense involvement.