I am certainly not allergic to causes - particularly on subjects such as religious intolerance.

Boredom provides a stronger inclination to write than anything.

In a painting, you can't make out whether the artist painted the left eye before the right eye. In Chinese calligraphy, you can see the progression of the artist's stroke.

It's not the gods But our own hearts We need to fear. The evil starts Against all odds Not there but here.

Put your backbone where your wishbone is.

Revision has its own peculiar pleasures and its own peculiar frustrations. The ground rules are already established; the characters already exist. You don't have to bring the characters to life, but you do have to make them more convincing.

I certainly think its very important that writers as citizens - not necessarily as writers, but just as ordinary citizens - should talk about things that matter to them.