It's crazy how vividly the stories from childhood stay with us. Pilot episode of the Netflix *He-Man* reboot: that first shot of Castle Grayskull. Chills 🥶

I'd forgotten how loud and intrusive planes were . . . #EarthDay 🌱

It's strange writing a novel. Getting almost addicted to the ritual. Staring at a screen before sunrise. Getting lost in the flow of images and words that seem to come from anotherplace. Through a portal YOU have opened. And then staring at the screen when the story is done . . .

How are you supposed to celebrate finishing a novel?

Just a few days out from finishing the first draft of my first novel. The light at the end of the tunnel is almost blinding.

Vaccinated 58 people yesterday afternoon. Most satisfying thing I've done in years.

Have you tried Google Maps' satellite mode? Makes you feel like an astronaut.

On a full writing day (say 06-12) how much coffee do you drink?

Normally, you log on, and there are forty or fifty patients waiting for a callback. Today? 227! 😂😳😬

There's nothing quite like writing in the pre-dawn dark.

Do you feel like a pretzel after a day spent bent over a keyboard? Like a crumpled boneless thing? Do yourself (and your spine) a favor and try a saddle stool. Takes a bit of getting used to, but *so* worth it.

Covid as a catalyst for hope 🌍

Good writers must be very clean and very fit. They've gotta be, right? All the best ideas seem to come while showering or running. 😂

If you're a would-be worldbuilder, you *must* watch ALIEN WORLDS on Netflix. Utterly absorbing. Shows how real a fantasy can become when you start from first principles and understand the science.

Bradbury has the coolest origin story, told at the age of 12 by a human lightbulb (Mr. Electrico from the travelling carnival): We've met before. You were my best friend in France in 1918, and you died in my arms in the battle of Ardennes forest that year . . . Welcome back!

Do you prefer the Scrivener cork board or a wall-mounted one when you're storyboarding?

Those first few minutes of a great film. First few pages of a great book. That magic *moment* when you realize you're in good hands and can kick back and just enjoy the ride. 😍

It's a special feeling: feeling finally ready to write a novel. When the idea is primed and electric and alive. And the fear is gone. And only excitement remains.

It's amazing (and sad) that the most vocal opponents of things like nationalization and market regulation and mandatory vaccination (which they will collectively refer to as 'communism') are often the people who will end up suffering the most if their wishes are attained.

Jacinda Ardern, Nicola Sturgeon and Angela Merkel all handled this crisis commendably. I wonder how different things might have been if the heads of state of China and Brazil and the USA had been more rational and sensible and compassionate (and maybe missing a Y chromosome).