“Common folk didn't have last names in the 8th and 9th centuries.”

“I outline fairly extensively because I'm usually dealing with real events. I don't need to give myself as much information as I used to, but I still like to have two pages of outline for every projected 100 pages of manuscript.”

“I ride horseback - arthritic knees permitting - or listen to opera. Sometimes I cook. I used to do needlework, but it's hard on my hands now, so I only do it occasionally, but I like it. And, of course, I read.”

“I think it is probably more important to attend specialized conventions for a journeyman writer than any other, but it's useful at all stages of a career, if for nothing else, to find out how the industry is working at any given time.”

“If they aren't real enough to surprise me, then they aren't real enough to go on the page.”

“I'm not a good collaborator in general.”

“Isn't that an odd philosophy for a vampire?”

“Providing a writer isn't put off by conventions - and some are - attending them can be a nice break from the necessary isolation of writing.”

“Storylines are how characters create the plots involved in their stories.”

“Very few editors worry about heresy - their goals are much too commercial, thank goodness.”

“When you're a mid-list writer, it pays to write fast.”