If you believe you have a voice and something to say, chances are you do, and the world needs you to do whatever you're drawn to do. So you should do it.

What writers do - everything comes from inside, from experiences of the world that we have digested. And then we turn it into silk, or stories.

The only thing worth thinking about, when I write a story, is whether I like it, whether I want to write it, whether it excites me.

I think part of my purpose in this life is to talk about magic, and to make it.

I had a short story collection come out in 2006, and then I couldn't work on large projects for a long time because I was finishing my doctoral degree.

I put that part of myself into both Brendan and Evelyn [from The Thorn and the Blossom] - as well as some of my own anxieties about the academic life!

Understanding what is going on in the world today inspires me in a negative sense because there's so much about it that I don't like - political stupidity, environmental degradation, etc. And that makes me want to change it, to make a difference in the world.