I Heard A Lannister Always Pays His

Eat Your Heart Out, Rowling. Maybe You Have Billions Of Dollars And My Hugo, But You Don't Have Readers Like These.

An Artist Has An Obligation To Tell The Truth. [...] That The True Horrors Of Human History Derive Not From Orcs And Dark Lords, But From Ourselves. We Are The Monsters. (and The Heroes Too). Each Of Us Has Within Himself The Capacity For Great Good, And Great Evil.

I've Always Taken That As My Guiding Principle And The Rest Is Just Set Dressing. You Can Have Dragons In It, Or Aliens And Starships, Or A Western About A Gunslinger, Or Even Literary Fiction, And Ultimately You're Still Writing About The Human Heart In Conflict With Itself.

A Bag Of Dragons Buys A Man's Silence For A While, But A Well-placed Quarrel Buys It Forever.

The Wildlings Seemed To Think Ygritte A Great Beauty Because Of Her Hair; Red Hair Was Rare Among The Free Folk, And Those Who Had It Were Said To Be Kissed By Fire, Which Was Supposed To Be Lucky.