The reaction to death is sometimes as violent as death itself. Shock throws a cautious coolness over your senses, but your stomach still has knots, your skin stings as if the Reaper is glaring at you as well.

Between a gasp and a sigh, a life can change forever.

I like to think I'm positive and optimistic about things generally, but what I write does tend towards the darker end of the spectrum.

Real fear is like intense pain. It's there to warn you something's truly wrong.

Love is a warm brain, not a leaping heart.

There's no denying that the way horror has been packaged in the past has done it no favours. Lurid black covers adorned with skulls, corpses crawling with insects and scantily clad maidens being chewed into by vampires -- all good clean fun, but it doesn't do much to give the genre an air of respectability or seriousness to the casual browser.

Voyaging great distances -- through forests, from island to island, across plains and into the mountains -- is all about finding ourselves.

Hate misleads, fear distorts and love blinds.

Nature is a big influence on my work. That's where the cosmic element comes in, an awareness of the relevance of what we do as a species, why we do it, and its implications.

Humans crave knowledge, and when that craving ends, we are no longer human.

Love is harsh, and it consumes. And more than anything, it demands sacrifice.

Growing up closes so many doors. The modern world doesn't allow for miracles, so we don't see them. It's a very precious gift, an open mind, but it's not passive. You've got to nurture it like a bed of roses otherwise it will wither and die. Make sure you don't close off your mind to things you find strange. Sometimes they may be the only truth.

Get an agent. Seriously, submitting stuff unagented means it will end up on the slush pile. An agent is the first quality filter, and a good agent is worth his or her weight in gold, as they'll often know the editors on a personal level and will be able to talk to them directly about the project.

If you do not fear God, then fear your dreams, because they're how He talks to you.