I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone.
I was 7 years old when the '80s began and 17 years old when they ended, so it was an incredibly formative decade for me.
Everybody uses pop culture as a shorthand. You might make an obscure reference to Monty Python or Iron Eagle that only some people will get, but if they do it conveys a world of meaning.
I have to avoid things like 'World of Warcraft' or 'Minecraft', otherwise I'd never get any work done.
I wanted to be able to write in the voice that I talk to my friends and assume that everybody would know what I was talking about.
I've been invited to speak at about 20 colleges. There's always this moment when I'm having dinner with the college president: 'Ernie, where'd you go to school?'
My characters are all kind of geek archetypes of people I've encountered at gaming and comic book conventions.
And there's no way I'm going to do Dame Edna.
Designs are increasingly winning competitions because they are literally green, and because somewhere they feature a small windmill.
'Do you pray for the senators, Dr. Hale?' No, I look at the senators and I pray for the country.
Don't you just love poetry that gives you a crinkly feeling up and down your back?