People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and backache and notes and more time and more work than you'd believe.

The moment that you feel that just possibly you are walking down the street naked...that's the moment you may be starting to get it right.

I wish I could Buy Time - just write a cheque, and a few days later a brown cardboard box would arrive at the door containing three months (along with an extra bonus sunny weekend for being a good customer).

With American Gods I was trying very, very consciously - there was a level at which it was a little like trying to write a novel in French - you know, "this novel is to be written in American."

I was kidnapped by aliens, they came down from outer space with ray guns, but I fooled them by wearing a wig and laughing in a foreign accent, and I escaped.

I remember making that vow, the one not to forget. Not to remember what happened, but to remember who I was and how I felt.

Google can bring you back 100,000 answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.