No, I don't think it's fair to label Islam 'violent.' But I will say that to my knowledge, no writer has ever gone into hiding for criticizing the Amish.

Even when things are at their worst, there's a little voice in your head saying, 'Good story!'

The acceptance that all that is solid has melted into the air, that reality and morality are not givens but imperfect human constructs, is the point from which fiction begins.

One of the characteristics of mudslinging is that mud sticks if it's thrown with enough force for long enough.

The only position when violence is threatened in response to a novel or a cartoon or a crappy YouTube video is a no-surrender position. This is how we live. We live in a country in which we have these rights, and we're not going to give them up. Full stop. The end.

When we stop believing in the gods we can start believing in their stories.

What grows best in the heat: fantasy; unreason; lust.