Dan Simmons

It's odd how violence and humor so often go together, isn't it?

But I think, and hope, that the novels can be understood and enjoyed as science fiction, on their own terms.

Writing, I'm convinced, should be a subversive activity - frowned on by the authorities - and not one cooed over and praised beyond common sense by some teacher.

They said I couldn't play anything but an English boy. I knew I could. So I went to New York.

I didn't want to be famous. I just wanted to earn enough money to have a nice life and enjoy acting.