I tend to write the episodes in the middle of the season, which can be a challenge because you've got to balance all these threads that have begun - and also make sure they will make sense with the overall plan going forward.

'A Storm of Swords' is a massive volume, and it seemed like it would be shortchanging it to try to cram it into ten episodes.

I tend to work in coffee shops. I need to get out of the house, and, well, I need the coffee.

The pressure used to wear on me. I was on Twitter a couple years ago, and I couldn't handle it all that well. Don't get me wrong, because 90% of the feedback you get is fantastic.

I don't think of the characters as being good or bad because that doesn't help me as a writer.

The overall plan makes sense, as does [Ray] Ozzie's role. [But] I am still digesting why MSN would be part of the Platform group and not the Entertainment division. I can think of some good reasons for it but can also come up with strong counterarguments. I also hope that these new delineations will not impede the developer group from working closely with the MBS [Microsoft Business Solutions] and Office teams. Any dilution there would be most unfortunate, especially with Oracle [Corp.] becoming such a formidable CRM [customer relationship management] and ERP [enterprise resource planning] player.