"Religion begins in story. Yes, it does, because religion is an attempt to make sense of what is incomprehensible to us, what is inexplicable, what is awe-inspiring, what is frightening, what moves us to great wonder, and so on. That is the religious impulse, and it is part of our psychological makeup -- of everyone's psychological makeup."
"I am a strong believer in the tyranny, the dictatorship, the absolute authority of the writer."
"I write almost always in the third person, and I don't think the narrator is male or female anyway. They're both, and young and old, and wise and silly, and sceptical and credulous, and innocent and experienced, all at once. Narrators are not even human - they're sprites."
"I am a religious person, although I am not a believer."
"I am a strong believer in the tyranny, the dictatorship, the absolute authority of the writer."
"After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world."