It can be hard to write a skillfully entertaining fiction, but a great book wants to be more, and wants more from us.

Ice is for death and endings.

One man sees a riselka: his life forks there.  Two men see a riselka: one of them shall die.  Three men see a riselka: one is blessed, one forks, one shall die. One woman sees a riselka: her path comes clear to her.  Two women see a riselka: one of them shall bear a child.  Three women see a riselka: one is blessed, one is clear, one shall bear a child.

As many have noted, the peril for authors is that our work space is too easily our play space.

You'd never killed anyone. Then you had.

After a while, you start to realize that you should write a book you would want to read. I try to write a book I would enjoy.

When I was 18 years old, in a more innocent time, my first backpacking trip through Europe, I sneaked into the Temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum after nightfall and spent several hours in there avoiding the guards patrolling.