The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.

I have a huge and savage conscience that won't let me get away with things.

Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over.

I have this theory that anything that happens to you that leaves you alive and intact can be used somewhere in your writing.

I lost an arm on my last trip home.

First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice.

No one was going to stop me from writing and no one had to really guide me towards science fiction. It was natural, really, that I would take that interest.