"It's exactly as hard as standing up and telling people to shut the fuck up..."

THE ENGINE

You seem to have worked hard to establish an individual identity in your field. How much of that process brought you into conflict with publishers' PR people, and what was your approach when their ideas conflicted with yours? How hard is it to be your own man in a world that's ruled by the perceptions others paint of you?

It's exactly as hard as standing up and telling people to shut the fuck up because I know they're not going to promote the work properly anyway. Either because they don't have a PR system, or because their PR dept. is utterly overwhelmed. Usually, I don't even have to shout -- people just let me get on with it because it's easier and because I'm right.

I couldn't give a shit about other people's perceptions of me. I care only about people doing what I tell them to and then getting out of my way.

Which I know sounds arrogant and horrible. But, ultimately, no-one in the publishing business gives a shit about my work except me. They all leave work at 5.30. I'm going to be doing this until I die, and possibly afterwards. So you'll do what I say when it comes to my work, because I'm the one who has to live with it.