PIERCE BROWN

I'm kind of irritated by the Hollywood scene.

If you look at 'Golden Son,' it was just a focused, isolated battle for Mars.

A lot of times, I faced bullies - or the 'big dogs' at school. What I wanted 'Red Rising' to be is not necessarily an indictment on bullies, but it reflects my experiences and attitudes that I had with bullies growing up.

Every hero must return home. Starks to Winterfell. Harry to Privet Drive. Luke Skywalker to Tattoine. Katniss to District twelve. The fun is in seeing how they return.

I've always looked at independent booksellers in a romantic light.

I was learning the craft; I didn't study writing in school. Rejection was my motivation, and failure is what taught me.

My editor's main job is to cut down my worldbuilding. There's so much fun stuff in there, you know?

Conceptually, I always took issue with bullies and those who took advantage of others, whether it was a teacher's cruelty to a student, or a student who picked fights with others.

When you look at a lot of the military histories, and even modern military history, everyone pretty much refers to each other by nicknames.

A lot of times, you had to beat the bullies at their own game. But the difficulty is not becoming the bully yourself.

'Morning Star' is the light that many sailors would use to guide them. But it's also referenced twice in the Bible - once for Lucifer and once for Jesus.

My editor's main job is to cut down my worldbuilding. There's so much fun stuff in there, you know?

I think girls have a harder time than guys do if you're switching schools. Guys don't get picked on as long as you're OK in sports.

I'm kind of irritated by the Hollywood scene.

My roommates are all such happy-go-lucky guys, and I carry some of the stress around a lot more.

A lot of times, I faced bullies - or the 'big dogs' at school. What I wanted 'Red Rising' to be is not necessarily an indictment on bullies, but it reflects my experiences and attitudes that I had with bullies growing up.

Every hero must return home. Starks to Winterfell. Harry to Privet Drive. Luke Skywalker to Tattoine. Katniss to District twelve. The fun is in seeing how they return.

If you look at 'Golden Son,' it was just a focused, isolated battle for Mars.

I usually dislike second books in series. The only second installment I ever loved was 'The Empire Strikes Back,' and I think that was wonderful because it evolved the characters while not seeming like a bridge.

A lot of times, you had to beat the bullies at their own game. But the difficulty is not becoming the bully yourself.

When you look at a lot of the military histories, and even modern military history, everyone pretty much refers to each other by nicknames.

Conceptually, I always took issue with bullies and those who took advantage of others, whether it was a teacher's cruelty to a student, or a student who picked fights with others.

I was learning the craft; I didn't study writing in school. Rejection was my motivation, and failure is what taught me.

I have been rejected 120 times, probably because I didn't write the right book.

Every high school I went to, I joined in the middle of the year, so sports helped. But you see a lot of bullies when you move to eight states, I'll say that.

There are so many ideas that you just come up with on a day-to-day basis when you're a writer that it's very difficult to want to go back to an old fling, so to speak.

I've always looked at independent booksellers in a romantic light.