“For an artist, there's nothing better than having the opportunity to create a world that doesn't- but could- exist.”

“There's nothing more dangerous than someone who wants to make the world a better place.”

“There's this saying: in an all-blue world, colour doesn't exist... If something seems strange, you question it; but if the outside world is too distant to use as a comparison then nothing seems strange.”

“There's nothing an artist needs more - even more than excellent tools and stamina - than a deadline.”

“When opportunity doesn't knock, create a door”

“It is the form that allows a writer the greatest opportunity to explore human experience...For that reason, reading a novel is potentially a significant act. Because there are so many varieties of human experience, so many kinds of interaction between humans, and so many ways of creating patterns in the novel that can’t be created in a short story, a play, a poem or a movie. The novel, simply, offers more opportunities for a reader to understand the world better, including the world of artistic creation. That sounds pretty grand, but I think it’s true.”