Science fiction at its best should be crazy and dangerous, not sane and safe.

As many authors have said, if the writer is not surprised by events, then chances are that the reader will not be either, and grow bored.

What had happened was this. When still young, I had gotten the idea from somewhere that I might be able to write... Maybe the deadly notion came from liking to read so much. Maybe I was in love with the image of being a writer. Whatever. It had been a really bad idea. Because I couldn't write, at least not by the bluntly and frequently expressed standards of anyone in a position to offer any encouragement and feedback.

The emotional tone or affect of the tale should be hot and engaged, not remote and dispassionate.

That was asking a lot of my readers, I realized, but I was trying to write the novel I would most enjoy decoding.