I instantly chucked my academic ambitions and began writing fiction full-time.

God, in the orthodox view, causes famine, plague, and flood. Was God evil? Evil is a convenient fiction.

Nobody can protect anybody else from vileness. Or from pain. All you can do is not let it break you in half and keep on going until you get to the other side.

An average working day begins at 8 or 9 am, includes an hour for lunch, and ends at 5 or 6 pm.

There have been times when I reread - or at least leafed through - something because I'd sent a copy to a friend, and what usually happened was that I noticed dozens and dozens of clumsy phrases I wished I could rewrite.

To do magic, to do great magic, he has to know himself as a piece of the universe.A piece of the universe?A little piece that has all the rest of it in it. Everything outside of him is also inside of him.

However, I think I managed to reach a new level with Koko, and I will always be grateful for the experience.