It's better to make the wrong choice," my father had continued, "than to make no choice at all.

They’re praying to ham bones, ham bones! The blessed pig!

Of course some days are easier than others, but my worst day is better than being in most humdrum occupations.

Agents will read unpublished work because they might make money, and that's their job. It isn't mine.

And yes, there's a simplicity to writing books because you're not a member of a team, so you make all the decisions yourself instead of deferring to a committee.

But fate, as Merlin always taught us, is inexorable. Life is a jest of the Gods, Merlin liked to claim, and there is no justice. You must learn to laugh, he once told me, or else you'll just weep yourself to death.