I knew I was on to something because when I went to San Francisco to talk about it everyone said I was mad. So I thought, "Good, it means nobody else is doing it."

More from GamesMania Interview

• It's a few years since I've written a novel and I think we're moving from a position where I have a publisher hav[ing] a contract with me to having a contract on me.
• You have to be careful, I've come to realize. Once in a hotel in New York, [I met] the receptionist who was just....mindbogglingly dense. You have one of these conversations where you really think the universe is sort of bending around you, it's so stupid.
• A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
• After nearly four years of total isolation he was so pleased and relieved to see Ford that he could almost cry. Ford was, on the other hand, an almost immediately annoying person.
• A glummer look replaced the already glum look on Arthur Dent’s face. “So we’re not home and dry,” he said. “We could not even be said,” replied Ford, “to be home and vigorously toweling ourselves off.”
• All eyes were on Ford. Some were on stalks.