I have a statue of Superman. It's actually a big one... It's a collectible statue of Superman, which the DC guys very kindly gave to me. So that's a little prized possession of mine.
You don't want to be ungenerous toward people who give you prizes, but it is never the social or political message that interests me in a novel. I begin with an interest in a relationship, a situation, a character.
I'm not anti-middle-class in the slightest. Look at me! I am very pro people putting time and money and effort into trying to improve the world.
It was a very long and hard decision. My dad kept telling me, 'You can always go to college, but you can't always go pro.' That made sense to me.
Being a pro athlete doesn't mean you treat your body right, even though it's so important to what you do. Being a runner and training for important races has taught me more about how to fuel than swimming ever did. I realize it's a process and part of the commitment.
This pro football player once sent me 100 teddy bears, asking me to fly to one of his games and go to dinner. I didn't do it - it was just too weird.
Everybody who knows anything about me knows all I ever wanted to do is play pro football. But I didn't have the talent, and I got hurt a lot. I'd do anything to be out on the field.
Being pro-choice was not just a movement to me; it was a lifestyle. I wholeheartedly embraced that lifestyle and loved being a part of it.
My pro-choice activism keeps me busy.
Well, for me the pro-life issue has been something I've been very passionate about since the '70s, and I have been very involved in the pro-life community since long before politics.
To me, every decision needn't be a 'big-bang' reform but a signal of proactive decision-making and removal of red tape and bureaucracy.
I find fault with my children because I like them and I want them to go places - uprightness and strength and courage and civil respect and anything that affects the probabilities of failure on the part of those that are closest to me, that concerns me - I find fault.
People keep coming up to me and asking, 'How does it feel to be banned for life?' Banned for life. I wasn't banned for life. There was never a word of suspension, probation or ban in that agreement. It was never meant to be part of it.
I have readers everywhere: from a radiologist who decides to compliment me on my writing while inserting a probe to check my ovaries to 80-year-olds who send me emails. And, of course, women my age everywhere.
How fantastic that the American ingenuity of NASA scientists got us to Mars. It makes me proud to be an American. I can't get enough of these images from when the probe touched down. These scientists are American heroes.
As you can tell from the titles of my books, I like to probe secret organizations, secret subjects. And this sometimes gets me into trouble.
I'm wary of the word 'inventing,' because in the British psyche the word 'inventor' is immediately linked with 'mad'. For me, inventing is problem-solving.
When I was a kid, I played 'Super Mario Bros' and 'Megaman 2' and '3' for hours and hours, trying to convince my mother they were good for me because they helped my hand-eye coordination. They influenced a whole generation of people to make computers what they are now, through problem-solving and so on.
I think 'In The Heat Of The Night' was one of the most influential films on me. Looking back now, I can see how influential it was on my screenwriting because here you have what looks to be a crime procedural, and it's actually a study in race and loneliness, and a perception of an era.
Perhaps I've found the secret for an unhappy private life. Every three years, I go and marry a girl who doesn't love me, and then she proceeds to take all my money.
