A lot of people... kind of make heroes that are separate from us, people who are, you know, like... John Wayne and Errol Flynn and, you know, Denzel Washington... people who are different, who are larger than life.

I believe that a writer has to tell what they think is the truth in a human experience. The truth of the human experience cannot escape the political.

A man's bookcase will tell you everything you'll ever need to know about him

I've always loved science fiction. I think the smartest writers are science fiction writers dealing with major things.

Losing my parents really set me adrift in more ways than one. It's not just losing them. It's losing the possibility of family.

Our collective freedom... depends on our ability to defend the rights of others.

I'm writing, I'm using language, I'm using that language to tell stories and even more so to get ideas across. And I just love that, and I've always loved that.