If there were no such creatures as minstrel-maidens, it would be necessary to invent them.
But Roy Rockwood, it was science fiction for the sake of science fiction.
I don't read other science fiction. I don't read any at all.
I just wrote what I felt like writing since they seemed to sell.
There was a writer in the '20s called Christopher Morley, who I remember a little bit of, who had some influence on me, but I couldn't tell you what it was.
The less a writer discusses his work and himself the better. The master chef slaughters no chickens in the dining room; the doctor writes prescriptions in Latin; the magician hides his hinges, mirrors, and trapdoors with the utmost care.