“Neal Stephenson handles exposition better than anybody else. I keep tr...” — Stephen Graham Jones Quote

“Neal Stephenson handles exposition better than anybody else. I keep trying to learn his tricks, but every time I duck into his pages, I get lost in the stories all over again and forget that I'm a writer.”

“Stories need stupid decisions that, at the time, seem absolutely rational and necessary. Without stupid decisions, the world isn't thrown out of balance, and so there's no need for a 'rest of the story' to balance it back.”

“Horror, of all the genres, is the only one that can provoke an involuntary visceral reaction.”

“When you don't have anybody to take care of you, then you could go both ways: You could do whatever you want, or you could take charge and be your own parent.”

“I want to do good work, but having kids and a life outside of that is important, too. If you don't have anybody around who loves you, then what's it all for? You're just lonely in the end.”

“Mercer was very clever. He knew the way Southerners spoke and put that into his lyrics. But in that whole era, you had the best. Harold Arlen was just fantastic. Cole Porter was better than anybody, and Gershwin was Gershwin, y'know. Johnny Mercer started Capitol Records, and he brought in Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Nat King Cole.”