Ray Bradbury has a lot to say about thinking and forming ideas. "Don't think," he advises. "Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self- conscious and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't 'try' to do things. You simply 'must' do things." About forming ideas, Bradbury relates a sort of process. "You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk away from it and let it ferment. You ignore it and pretend you don't care. Next thing you know, the answer comes."

While Bradbury's lessons on thinking may not work for everyone, they seem to be working for him. The award-winning author has written about 30 books, including novels, short story collections, poetry, plays, and essays. Dandelion Wine, Fahrenheit 451, and The Martian Chronicles are some of his most well-known books. Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois, in 1920. After several moves between Waukegan and Tucson, Arizona, his family settled in Los Angeles, California.

As a young man, Bradbury sold newspapers and wrote in his free time. He published his first story in 1938. Bradbury's philosophy of life is an active one. "Go to the edge of the cliff and jump off. Build your wings on the way down," he says. "Stuff your eyes with wonder. Live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made up or paid for in factories."