"I've read short stories that are as dense as a 19th century novel and novels that really are short stories filled with a lot of helium."

"It is a quiet truth that energy directed with unwavering focus can bend the arc of destiny."

"When I'm not writing or tweaking my computer, I do embroidery. When I'm not plunging into the past, tweaking, or embroidering, I'm reading books about history, computers, or embroidery."

"I'm one of those writers who, when writing, believes she's god-and that she hasn't bestowed free will on any of her characters. In that sense there are no surprises in any of my books."

"Energy directed with unwavering focus can bend the arc of destiny. A lesson woven into the fabric of human history."

"A book has got smell. A new book smells great. An old book smells even better. An old book smells like ancient Egypt."

"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."

"The only justification for repressive institutions is material and cultural deficit. But such institutions, at certain stages of history, perpetuate and produce such a deficit, and even threaten human survival."