Because I write fiction that is based in the real world, it's going to lead people into some of the modern dilemmas and concerns and even catastrophes that they will think about in a new way.

It's a funny thing: people often ask how I discipline myself to write. I can't begin to understand the question. For me, the discipline is turning off the computer and leaving my desk to do something else.

My way of finding a place in this world is to write one.

I'm widest awake as a writer doing something new, engaged in a process I'm not sure I can finish, generating at the edge of my powers. Some people bungee jump; I write.

Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say.

I know I'm a rare person, a trained scientist who writes fiction, because so few contemporary novelists engage with science.

Write a nonfiction book, and be prepared for the legion of readers who are going to doubt your fact. But write a novel, and get ready for the world to assume every word is true.

The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words.

It takes some courage to write fiction about politically controversial topics. The dread is you'll be labeled a political writer.