“My centre is giving way, my right is in retreat, situation excellent. I attack.”

“I write because it’s a way of puzzling out answers to situations in the world that I don’t understand. The act of writing a book gives me the same experience that I hope reading it gives readers. It forces me to sort through the various points of view on a given issue or situation and ultimately come to a conclusion. Doing that might not change my mind, but it almost always gives me a stronger sense of why my opinion is what it is—a question we rarely ask ourselves.”

“Mediocrity always attacks excellence”

“Probably the easiest way to explain [the situation] is to simply say that your proteins refuse to bend [to the zombie protein's command].'My mother was right,' Nora muttered. 'Even my genes are stubborn.”

“But it wasn't the right season to lift off. Not yet. I sat in my apartment and looked out over the city, and I just didn't feel any passion to write about the place. I didn't give a damn about local politics; I wasn't moved by the issues. I missed home. And I was frustrated by people who actually thought the world was a centre and that centre was here. ‘The world's a sphere, everyone,’ I wanted to say. ‘The centre of a sphere doesn't lie on its surface. Look up the word 'superficial', when you have a chance.”

“Somehow this is what I wanted to happen. I was holding my ground under attack from my enemies, lashing out at them until they killed me, not giving a damn.”