There are so many ideas that you just come up with on a day-to-day basis when you're a writer that it's very difficult to want to go back to an old fling, so to speak.

'Morning Star' is the light that many sailors would use to guide them. But it's also referenced twice in the Bible - once for Lucifer and once for Jesus.

I usually dislike second books in series. The only second installment I ever loved was 'The Empire Strikes Back,' and I think that was wonderful because it evolved the characters while not seeming like a bridge.

Every high school I went to, I joined in the middle of the year, so sports helped. But you see a lot of bullies when you move to eight states, I'll say that.

Every hero must return home. Starks to Winterfell. Harry to Privet Drive. Luke Skywalker to Tattoine. Katniss to District twelve. The fun is in seeing how they return.

A lot of times, I faced bullies - or the 'big dogs' at school. What I wanted 'Red Rising' to be is not necessarily an indictment on bullies, but it reflects my experiences and attitudes that I had with bullies growing up.

When you look at a lot of the military histories, and even modern military history, everyone pretty much refers to each other by nicknames.

My editor's main job is to cut down my worldbuilding. There's so much fun stuff in there, you know?

If you look at 'Golden Son,' it was just a focused, isolated battle for Mars.

I've always looked at independent booksellers in a romantic light.