I had a paint pony called Half-Pint, and I rode her in Madison Square Garden, and that was my first big show. But my first real pony was this red pony called Chantal. He was absolutely amazing. He was a great pony, except he did spin me off a couple of times! I would blink, and then I would be on the floor.

I love the freedom you feel on horseback, and enjoy the discipline of competition.

The best riders in the world with the best horses make it look so elegant and graceful. When you watch it done well, it looks so easy that it's difficult for the public to understand how hard this really is.

You can have the most amazing horse in the world and not be able to ride it, so it has to be a good match for sure.

As to the differences between game work and novel writing, well, obviously the former is a lot less lonely - you're in and out of meetings all the time, bouncing stuff back and forth with the level designers, the art department, the animation team, so forth.

I know virtually no one of my age who can remember a hug, or a smile from their father, or a 'Let's go play football.'

I don't step back, that's football. It's about winning.

I struggled with math and had no interest in sports.