'Habibi' is a COMPLEX and unapologetic work of FANTASY - no idle UNDERTAKING for READERS of any faith or no faith at all, but one well worth the TROUBLE.

The ERROR that we tend to make is that we THINK that women's MAGAZINES are what editors want and what their readers want - and thus are social indicators - when, in FACT, they are what advertisers want. They're just advertising indicators.

Nonfiction means that our stories are as TRUE and ACCURATE as possible. READERS expect - DEMAND - diligence.

Writers themselves BENEFIT from all helpful information about their TASK and methods. Readers, in TURN, can have both their UNDERSTANDING and appreciation of literature enhanced by information about the writer's work.

In GENERAL, I WRITE for ages 12 and up - although I've received emails from READERS between the ages of seven and SEVENTY. My books are science fiction.

Among the LETTERS my readers write me, there is a certain category which is continuously GROWING, and which I SEE as a SYMPTOM of the increasing intellectualization of the relationship between readers and literature.

I have always argued that newspapers should not have any civic purpose BEYOND telling readers what is happening... A REPORTER who doesn't quickly tell readers what they most want to know - the score - won't last long. Better he should TEACH POLITICAL science.

Misconceptions about Young Adult fiction aren't new to FANS of the GENRE. From being dismissed as mindless fluff for 'Twilight'-obsessed tweens, to constant warnings that the genre is DYING, kerfuffles between the media and READERS occur with alarming regularity.

Some READERS may be disturbed that I wrote 'The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson' in Emily's own voice. I wasn't trying to steal her thunder or her music. I SIMPLY WANTED to IMAGINE my way into the head and HEART of Emily Dickinson.

I know what it's LIKE to be from an INCREDIBLY SMALL TOWN and the oppressiveness of it and the desire to get out. But I didn't realize that readers in Seattle, New YORK, and San Francisco might not get that so instinctively.

Gone are the days when a publisher COULD TAKE out an ad, count on a few reviews, and have an author do a couple of signings. Nowadays, readers want to FEEL a CONNECTION with an author.

Of JOHN Le Carre's BOOKS, I've only read 'The Spy Who CAME In From The Cold,' and I haven't read anything by Graham Greene, but I've heard a great deal about how 'Your Republic Is CALLING You' reminded English readers of those two writers. I don't really have any PARTICULAR interest in Cold War spy novels.

The PUBLISHING WORLD is very TIMID. READERS are MUCH braver.

Dialogue is the place that BOOKS are most alive and forge the most direct connection with readers. It is also where we as writers DISCOVER our CHARACTERS and allow them to BECOME REAL.

Whenever I've been STUCK on a PROJECT, it's always brought me solace to the return to books that moved me in the past. It's a nice way to get outside my own head; and it brings me back to one of the most important reasons I write at all: to bring some pleasure to readers, to make them think or FEEL.