Just because we think of wolves (or the wilderness, or another race) as wild and fierce, doesn't mean there isn't another side to them.

I don't use real people for inspiration.

I despise this weakness in myself - this endless one-sided conversation that takes the place of action.

I love research, and in fact it's liberating because you have to create your own world. No one can say "I've just got back from the 1860s, and you got it wrong." Anyway, it's fiction.

...it just goes to show you can't leave anything behind. You bring it all with you, whether you want to or not.

I don't think I could write about someone I didn't feel some sympathy for.

Clearly the secret of happiness...is a variation on the general principle of banging your head against a wall, and then stopping.