I Am A Religious Person,

One Moment Several Things Are Possible, The Next Moment Only One Happens, And The Rest Don't Exist. Except That Other Worlds Have Sprung Into Being, On Which The Did Happen.

The State Of Mind Which I Put Myself When I Tell A Story Is One In Which Superstition Flourishes Very Easily. And I Welcome That Because It Helps Me.

Tolkien Seems To Me Reactionary, Conservative, Fearful Of A Modern World. Fearful Of Anything That Isn't Sanctioned By The Passage Of Long Eons Of Time. I Think What I'm Doing In His Dark Materials Is Politically The Reverse Of That.

All Stories Teach, Whether The Storyteller Intends Them To Or Not. They Teach The World We Create. They Teach The Morality We Live By. They Teach It Much More Effectively Than Moral Precepts And Instructions.

There Are Some Themes, Some Subjects, Too Large For Adult Fiction; They Can Only Be Dealt With Adequately In A Children's Book.