And I grew up on a steady diet of science fiction, especially apocalyptic and postapocalyptic fiction.

I was a 'Planet of the Apes'-obsessed kid.

The world was a world of dreaming souls who could not die.

I have any number of completely dark obsessions and fascinations, and none of this was present in my profile or my growing profile as a writer.

He breathed once more, holding the air in his chest, as if it were not air but something more--a sweet taste of freedom, of all cares lifted, everything over and done.

I came to Houston for a job, the reason most people move halfway across the country with a first grader and a five-week-old. I came here to teach at Rice.

She remembered no one at all. She remembered one day thinking: I am alone. There is no I but I. She lived in the dark. She taught herself to walk in the light, though it was not easy.