My mother is an artist, and I have a strong visual sense. I almost always choose the cover art for my books. I've learned that the more I collaborate, like by having someone do a soundtrack to one of my books, the more I see my own work differently.

So many differing opinions and philosophies... are rarely housed under the roof of a single magazine.

Imbuing fiction with a life that extends beyond the last word is in some ways the goal: the ending that goes beyond the ending in the reader's mind, so invested are they in the story.

The map had been the first form of misdirection, for what is a map but a way of emphasizing some things and making other things invisible?

You could know the what of something forever and never discover the why.

I had learned so much about the world that I had decided to withdraw from it.

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.