It's a great thing when you feel that you recognize yourself, deeply and movingly, in a work of literature.

In our world no one ever knows what to do, and everyone's just as clueless and full of crap as everyone else, and you have to figure it all out by yourself. And even after you've figured it out and done it, you'll never know whether you were right or wrong. You'll never know if you put the ring in the right volcano, or if things might have gone better if you hadn't.

The real problem with being around James was that he was always the hero. And what did that make you? Either the sidekick or the villain.

A novel with a bad middle is a bad book. A bad ending is something I've just gotten in the habit of forgiving.

And I'm not as young as I once was. At my age, I don't have time to be bored.

I loved fantasy, but I particularly loved the stories in which somebody got out of where they were and into somewhere better - as in the Chronicles Of Narnia, The Wizard Of Oz, The Phantom Tollbooth, the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon.

The line between outside and inside is fuzzier in fantasy. Maybe that's something people are looking for.