After a long day, folk rest at night. After a long summer, folk play games and sit about in the winter. After a long life folk sit about the fire and stay warm, for the chill of death is upon them, and even the thickest bearskin can't keep off the shivering.

Charles Dickens was an avid seeker of names - he read directories and looked for odd names on gravestones.

I had spent years thinking about one thing while I was doing another. I had, in fact, prided myself on being able to do two things at once.

We sort of read two or three big newspapers but we don't get the flavor of the local events, the local news as much.

Take naps. Often new ideas come together when you are half asleep, but you have to train yourself to remember them.

everything is toxic. That's the point. You can't avoid toxins. Thinking you can is just another symptom of the toxic overload stage.

I love to write about sex. You just have to make it idiosyncratic. You have to have a strong comprehension of your characters, and write it from their point of view. It's really fun. It's not erotic.