The author can always delve into his own personality and find aspects of himself with which he can dress his characters.
Nanny’s philosophy of life was to do what seemed like a good idea at the time, and do it as hard as possible. It had never let her down.
Once you have your character sitting right there in your head, all you really need to do is wind them up, put them down, and simply write down what they do, say, or think.
People couldn’t become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked.
Gravity is a habit that is hard to shake off.
We live in a science fiction universe. We have done for a long time.
She was beautiful, but she was beautiful in the way a forest fire was beautiful: something to be admired from a distance, not up close.
There’s no such thing as writer’s block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write.
The thing about football – the important thing about football – is that it is not just about football.
It was sad music. But it waved its sadness like a battle flag. It said the universe had done all it could, but you were still alive.
Everywhere’s been where it is ever since it was first put there. It’s called geography.
Some pirates achieved immortality by great deeds of cruelty or derring-do. Some achieved immortality by amassing great wealth. But the captain had long ago decided that he would, on the whole, prefer to achieve immortality by not dying.
Certainly I have no faith in Jehovah, although I think it quite likely that Jesus Christ, as a preacher and a wise man, did indeed exist.
Once you gave a thing a name, you gave it life.
We are here and it is now. The way I see it is, after that, everything tends towards guesswork.
Books must be treated with respect, we feel that in our bones, because words have power. Bring enough words together they can bend space and time.
Every intelligent being, whether it breathes or not, coughs nervously at some time in its life.
Cats will amusingly tolerate humans only until someone comes up with a tin opener that can be operated with a paw.
You have so many sources to draw on when you’re a fantasy writer.
People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it’s the other way around.