The cleanest souls are the easiest to soil.

People who read my books have an open mind when it comes to new, bizarre, interesting and exciting ideas.

I still feel threatened by academics, but my books have a lot of academic in-jokes and everybody assumes I went to university and studied English.

Whereas story is processed in the mind in a straightforward manner, poetry bypasses rational thought and goes straight to the limbic system and lights it up like a brushfire. It's the crack cocaine of the literary world.

How fishy on the fishiness scale? Ten is a stickleback and one is a whale shark." "A whale isn't a fish, Thursday." "A whale shark is--sort of." "All right, it's as fishy as a crayfish." "A crayfish isn't a fish." "A starfish, then." "Still not a fish." "This is a very odd conversation, Thursday.

I would so hate to be a first-person character! Always on your guard, always having people read your thoughts!

If you even think about asking Harry Potter for an autograph, your day ends right now.