And I watch 'Saturday Night Live' religiously I have since I was a little boy. I watch it basically like one of my favorite sports teams.

The stark and inescapable fact is that today we cannot defend our society by war since total war is total destruction and if war is used as an instrument of policy eventually we will have total war.

Since I have come to America I am often asked whether my next novel will be set in America. I don't think it will. I think I will be living in America for some time to come but while living in America I would like to write about Japanese society from the outside.

Since my retirement I've spent a lot of time trying to help the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina. A society like this just can't afford an uneducated underclass of citizens.

Ever since I was four years old I loved making people smile making them think making them feel good feel some kind of emotion.

I like to smile. I smile even when I'm nervous since it calms me down and shows my friendliness.

We've been trained since kindergarten: Be nice be kind share put on a smile. So we're conditioned to squash our natural selfish instincts and that's the right thing for society.

Since coming to Congress I have been advocating for increased resources for research in the physical sciences and for the Department of Energy Office of Science in particular.

I could write historical fiction or science fiction or a mystery but since I find it fascinating to research the clues of some little know period and develop a story based on that I will probably continue to do it.

I have been a reader of Science Fiction and Fantasy for a long time since I was 11 or 12 I think so I understand it and I'm not at all surprised that readers of the genre might enjoy my books.