Testing of self is a regular part of our own lives, so it seems natural to make it a part of the lives of my characters, as well, albeit on a much different level.

Writing fantasy lets me imagine a great deal more than, say, writing about alligators, and lets me write about places more distant than Florida, but I can tell you things about Florida and alligators, let you make the connection all on your own.

Hurt leads to bitterness, bitterness to anger, travel too far that road and the way is lost.

Growing up, I didn't have a lot of toys, and personal entertainment depended on individual ingenuity and imagination - think up a story and go live it for an afternoon.

We are constantly being put to the test by trying circumstances and difficult people and problems not necessarily of our own making.

Even after Sword was published, I was still only thinking about the next book, Elfstones.

I remember one winter, when I was about five or six, I spent three days with another boy, tracking a bobcat that had been sighted in another county fifty miles away, but which I was sure had come into our neighborhood.

A world in which elves exist and magic works offers greater opportunities to digress and explore.

After all, you put a lot into creating a universe and everything that goes with it, and it seems a shame to use it only once.

Fantasy is the only canvas large enough for me to paint on.

For a writer, its very attractive to stay in one world for a time.

I have learned to do more with less, so you don't see the big books anymore.

I haven't made up my mind about doing anymore Landover books.

I might add that you change as a person as you grow older, so you change as a writer, too.

I think I make better use of language and imagery than when I started out.

I want to kick-start your imagination and let you discover the places it can take you.

My interests are different now than they were thirty years ago.

On the other hand, I still approach each book with the same basic plan in mind - to put some people under severe stress and see how they hold up.

We forget that what matters begins with the imagination.

Well, I think that as a country, we've drifted away from appreciating the importance of imagination.