The main advantage of being a reviewer is that you read a lot. A lot of books get sent to you, and you have an amazing vantage point from which to observe what's going on in contemporary fiction - not only genre stuff, the whole spectrum.

Escapism has value, even if I don't know what its value is, exactly. Maybe it's just part of some healthy way that we deal with the world.

I recognize that on paper, you can't really tell that I'm a fan or a nerd.

We're wired to expect the world to be brighter and more meaningful and more obviously interesting than it actually is. And when we realize that it isn't, we start looking around for the real world.

How often have I met and disliked writers whose books I love; and conversely, hated the books and then wound up liking the writer? Too often.

Becoming an author changes your attitude too. Once you see where books come from, and how they're made, they never seem quite as sacred again.

There's a special gut-check moment the first time you write a scene in which somebody casts a spell.