I've always thought the Nat Turner story to be very interesting.

I was allowed to write about race using an elevator metaphor because of Toni Morrison and David Bradley and Ralph Ellison. Hopefully, me being weird allows someone who's 16 and wanting to write inspires them to have their own weird take on the world, and they can see the different kinds of African American voices being published.

If you go to a big publishing house, editorial aside, it's completely white.

I try to keep each different book different from the last. So 'Sag Harbor' is very different from 'Apex Hides the Hurt;' 'The Intuitionist,' which is kind of a detective novel, is very different from 'John Henry Days.' I'm just trying to keep things rich for me creatively and for the readers who follow me.

In '82 and '83, that was the rise of the VCR. Every Friday, my brother and I would go to Crazy Eddie's - which was a video store in Manhattan - and rent five horror movies. And that's basically what we did, basically, for three years. Becoming social misfits.

'Zone One' comes out of me trying to work through some of my ideas about why, for me personally, zombies are scary.

For me, the terror of the zombie is that at any moment, your friend, your family, you neighbor, your teacher, the guy at the bodega down the street, can be revealed as the monster they've always been.

I was 7 years old when 'Roots' was first broadcast, and my parents gathered all us kids around the TV to learn about how we got here. But it wasn't until I sat down and immersed myself in the research that I got the barest inkling of what it meant to be a slave.

The idea of sacrifice is integral to the John Henry myth. Heroic figures have to die in order for us to have our stories; we live and stand on their bones.

Anytime an African-American writes an unconventional novel, the writer gets compared to Ellison. But that's O.K. I am working in the African-American literary tradition. That's my aim and what I see as my mission.

Part of any book is establishing the rules at the end of the world. My first book, 'The Intuitionist,' takes place in an alternative world where elevator inspectors are important, so you have to establish rules, and part of that is, How do people talk? How do they behave?

Most of my books have always worked through juxtaposition, jumping through different point of views and time.

'Driving while black' was taught to me at a young age.

Schools don't teach American history that well, especially a lot of black American history.

Some books are well-received with critics; other books sell.

I was sort of a miserable teenager.

I wrote a book of essays about New York called 'The Colossus of New York,' but it's not about - you know, when I'm writing about rush hour or Central Park, it's not a black Central Park, it's just Central Park, and it's not a black rush hour, it's just rush hour.

I like to explore different ideas of race, how the concept of race has evolved in the country. It's one thing I enjoy talking about, but I don't feel compelled to talk about it.

A lot of my books have started with an abstract premise.

I always try to mix it up with each book - changing tone, changing style keeps the work very vital for me.

Some people don't like my fiction, because they prefer the nonfiction. But moving around keeps the work fresh for me and, hopefully, for my one or two readers who follow me from book to book!

I do love to have pictures taken and to pose and wear fabulous gowns, so red carpets are a comfort zone.

I dream of a world where we don't have to talk about unnecessary things like sexuality, who you love.

As I always say, you don't have to love me, but you have to respect that I'm here.

I see myself as quite boring and simple.

Being LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender) in Russia is anything but fun.

I'm a drag artist, and we put so much effort into creating characters, so the easiest way to show us respect is to call us by the name we gave ourselves and refer to the gender we have chosen to be on stage.

I've figured out over the years, you can only hurt me if I love you; if I don't know you, I really don't care.

If you want to be a bearded lady then you are allowed to do that because you're not hurting anybody.

I think that anyone who is in any way creative or is creating something, whether an architect or fashion designer, I think if you have the opportunity to create something that is fully you, it frees your mind and your spirit and gives you the opportunity to really find yourself.

I don't understand why people spend so much time thinking about me if they don't like what I do. I couldn't care less about things I don't like.

Expectations are dangerous. I recommend not having any, if only to avoid disappointment.

I'm jealous, I'm moody, I'm really not good to be around as a boyfriend.

The beard is a statement to say that you can achieve anything, no matter who you are or how you look.

Conchita is a symbol of the fact that you just can live a wonderful life when you do what makes you happy.

I just want everybody to be respected. It shouldn't be politics because for me it's not, one of the most natural things in our society should be to be respectful.

I'm not perfect, I just do what I think is right. So if I can't fulfil people's expectations, I'm sorry, but it's not my fault.

You have to be respectful. Don't ask for respect if you are not respectful. It's not depending on your sexuality, your gender or the colour of your skin. It should be in the focus to live a respectful life.

I'm not that powerful to take out the masculinity of a beard.

The private person Tom Neuwirth and the art figure Conchita Wurst respect each other from the bottom of their hearts. They are two individual characters with their own individual stories, but with one essential message for tolerance and against discrimination.

It was a huge honour to play at the Palladium with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

I started out as being a diva in a golden dress and now to a more bearded drag artist guy in boots.

If you've got the chance to really speak your mind and do what you feel and express yourself how you want, then this is freedom. Drag is freedom.

It's just unbelievable that nearly every gay human being knows who I am now - that's overwhelming.

The main topic I'm always talking about is equality, and I get that it's politics, but it shouldn't be. It should be the most normal thing ever. There's bullying and discrimination about the colour of your skin, your religion. And it must end.

People only look at my beard for a moment. Then it melts away and it's just another part of me. It's like the most natural thing, that this is what a bearded lady looks like. It's beautiful to see.

There's a big difference between when I'm Tom and when I'm Conchita. Conchita uses very proper German; Tom talks in an Austrian dialect. Conchita gets mad if she is kept waiting; Tom is lazy.

I am happy being a man in a dress. Some people get confused and think I'm a trans woman, but I'm strict about the difference. What I do is performance, it's staged, it's glamour - it's not real life. But for trans people, being born in the wrong body - there's nothing glamorous or easy about that.

I was actually a very confident little kid. I would go to kindergarten in a skirt.

The first song I remember listening to in a language other than German was 'Goldfinger,' by Shirley Bassey. I was seven years old at the time and I had no idea which language it was or who the lady was singing it, but it touched me and I realised that it was the sort of music I liked.