I was a terrible science student, and for a long time, I thought I just didn't understand science. It turned out that I didn't understand post-Newtonian science. I could actually understand how people thought scientifically about the world in the past.

I teach 18- to 21-year-olds - the 'Harry Potter' generation. They grew up as voracious readers, reading books in this exploding genre. But at some point, I would love for them to give Umberto Eco or A.S. Byatt a try. I hope 'A Discovery of Witches' will serve as a kind of stepping-stone.

I couldn't resist hiding some historical details and a few clues relevant to the plot and characters of 'A Discovery of Witches' throughout the pages of the novel.

I found a 'lost' manuscript called the Book of Soyga that had once belonged to Queen Elizabeth I's court astrologer, John Dee, in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Everybody thought it was the missing key to Dee's interest in magic. Of course, it wasn't really lost. It was there, in the catalog.

Achieving a balance between career and children doesn't necessarily mean the time is split evenly. Successful parents understand there will be times when their family will need more attention and times when a career will demand more energy.

I was afraid my family would lock me up and give me electroshock. I was a screaming queen.

Homosexuality is not about love, it's not about family, and it's not about civil rights.

From a child's point of view, there is rarely a great time for parents to separate, even if there has been a lot of commotion and fighting.