We wanted to write the first prequels as a story that anyone could pick up.

I don't think the author should make the reader do that much work to remember who somebody is.

Do you want Columbus to go across the ocean, or do you want to put a message in a bottle and hope that it lands somewhere? I'd rather have actual people be there. Whether they look like Americans or like the inhabitants of some other country, depends on who has the most drive.

I've had the same, full-time assistant and typist for eight or nine years now. She's read everything I've written, she types everything and does a good job, translates it and makes comments.

Of course you don't make any noise in space, because there's no air.

My total year's income from working as hard as I possibly could from writing went from like $30 one year to about $70 the next year. And it made me realize that maybe you couldn't really pay the rent that way.

The real key is time management and being able to focus on what you need to, on using every available minute to accomplish something that needs to be done.