Everyone puts all of the advances that we've made on Dr. King, but there's a lot of people who were part of the civil rights movement.

Everyone wants me to be this political person... I'm not Malcolm X.

We were raised very colour blind. I had gone to school and to camp for so long with white people, I think I was like 15 years old before I realised I was black.

Of course I was in love with my father as a child. He was Daddy, and our house came alive in a special way whenever he walked through the door. He'd romp and play with us; my sisters and I would literally squeal with excitement when Daddy came home.

The best thing about writing speculative fiction is the opportunity to satirize the whole wide world. The America in 'A Better World' isn't ours, but it's pretty close, so I could lampoon everything from partisan politics to the cult of celebrity to our general disaffection. To me, all that is the point.

Dishonesty in government is the business of every citizen. It is not enough to do your own job. There's no particular virtue in that. Democracy isn't a gift. It's a responsibility.

It is divisive politics to infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens after a national tragedy.

It's like a golden rule in the pawn business: never cash a government check.