Writing is very improvisational. It's like trying to fix a broken sewing machine with safety pins and rubber bands. A lot of tinkering.

Science is a tool, and we invent tools to do things we want. It's a question of how those tools are used by people.

You hear doom and gloom about the Internet ruining young people's command of English - that's nonsense.

If I were going to convert to any religion I would probably choose Catholicism because it at least has female saints and the Virgin Mary.

This is what I miss, Cordelia: not something that’s gone, but something that will never happen. Two old women giggling over their tea.

Heroes need monsters to establish their heroic credentials. You need something scary to overcome.

Sons branch out, but one woman leads to another.