John Shirley

“Innocence could be considered a discrete state of mind.”

“I do sometimes watch 'Dr. Who' and while the stories barely make sense, if at all, the doctor is such great company I don't care.”

“People in extreme conditions are suddenly naked, realer than normal, perhaps even more alive.”

“I'm cursed with empathy. I'm also by nature way too opinionated.”

“I do try to be of some use in the world. I sometimes do volunteer work with kids, and manage to help some people a little, but really making a significant difference can be hard.”

“I'm incapable of writing without social commentary. I like to think that it's integrated and not really heavy handedly didactic.”

“I get drunk writing words. I don't drink or do drugs, but I get so carried away with writing that I get inebriated from it.”

“I think paranoia can be instructive in the right doses. Paranoia is a skill.”

“I'm not quite pompous enough to think of myself as an educator or a man capable of definitive refutation of falsehoods.”

“I'm trying to trick people into thinking about the unthinkable by using pop culture images.”

“Labels only confuse people. The smarter people recognize artists who transcend categories. But I always try to entertain. It's in my nature; writers are born to entertain. If that means working ostensibly within a genre, fine.”