[I spent] much of my time reminding Matt Groening that I really need to be a head in a jar on Futurama.

He left the drapes open, watched the lights of the cars and of the fast food joints through the window glass, comforted to know there was another world out there, one he could walk to anytime he wanted.

We writers – and especially writers for children, but all writers – have an obligation to our readers: it's the obligation to write true things, especially important when we are creating tales of people who do not exist in places that never were – to understand that truth is not in what happens but what it tells us about who we are. Fiction is the lie that tells the truth, after all.

Reading is important. Books are important. Librarians are important. (Also, libraries are not child-care facilities, but sometimes feral children raise themselves among the stacks.)

Media. I think I have heard of her. Isn't she the one who killed her children?

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes...you're Doing Something.

I am fascinated a) by transgressive art and b) what happens beyond the boundaries.