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Today I began the novel that I determined to be great.

I'm always reading several books at the same time, depending on how deeply engrossed in it I am, if it's fiction and if it captures me.

For me, one of the hallmarks of a really great book is that I'm seeing it in my head while I'm reading.

One of my goals is to allow readers to see my characters and the world they inhabit as vividly as possible.

Reading has always been the great love of my life.

I always love novels that open up a subject to me - like raising a window to a beautiful, mysterious world outside.

What I wish is that people would look beyond the tribbles and see I've written some other books that I really would like people to notice. There's 'The Man Who Folded Himself,' there's 'The Martian Child,' which is about my son and the adoption. There's 'The War Against The Chtorr,' which is my magnum opus, my great epic story.

It's not surprising to see in my own work, looking back, and in the work of some of my peers, an attention to family. It's nice to write a book that does tend toward significance and meaning, and where else are you sure of finding it?

I do as much bookish research as I can but when I sit down to write, often I think, 'Wait, I was there.' That is one of the great advantages of having wandered around the world and lived in so many places and met such fascinating people.