His heart, like mine, was ticking off the time allotted to his small restless body.

I'm an average person. Is just that I like reading.

Sometimes I wonder why I'm a novelist right now. There is no definite career reason why I became a writer. Something happened, and I became a writer. And now I'm a successful writer.

Reality was utterly coolheaded and utterly lonely.

Let me tell you something, Mari. The ground we stand on looks solid enough, but if something happens it can drop right out from under you. And once that happens, you've had it: things'll never be the same. All you can do is go on, living alone down there in the darkness.

My arm was not what she needed, but the arm of someone else. My warmth was not what she needed, but the warmth of someone else.

Most near-future fictions are boring. It's always dark and always raining, and people are so unhappy.