When they give you things, ask yourself why. When you're grateful to them for giving you the things you should have anyway, ask yourself why.

Film fixes a precise visual image in the viewer's head. In fiction, you just hope you're precise enough to convey the intended effect.

A lot of the creature comforts and the things we take for granted, are not sustainable, especially at current population levels. And so, it's not just simply a matter of changing over to solar. It's a matter of changing our philosophies. Of learning to live, more or less, mid- or post-apocalyptic, whatever apocalyptic means.

I see music as an aid. It overcomes my internal editor, especially when the music evokes the character or the mood I'm trying to build.

The music I listen to while writing is really scene-specific. It's just a great motivator, a way to put myself in the mood.

Trust your imagination. Don't be afraid to fail. Write. Revise. Revise. Revise.

An inordinate love of ritual can be harmful to the soul, unless, of course, in times of great crisis, when ritual can protect the soul from fracture.