Elena Satine

I think I could totally be a gangster, but I could never be the kind of gangster that carries things out myself. I would have to be the kingpin that has my minions go and do the dirty bidding. I think I'd be pretty good at giving orders.

The historical novelist has to consider what has actually happened, while the SF writer is dealing in possibilities, but they are both in the business of imagining a world unlike our own and yet connected to it.

Though builders may build, in the main they follow the plans of architects. Teachers teach, but they must have a text. Politicians govern, but only upon the flow of commentary that raises them up or casts them down.