I can't say I had an ideal father, and I'm not a father myself.

I'm like the painter with his nose to the canvas, fussing over details. Gazing from a distance, the reader sees the big picture.

All writing is an act of self-exploration. Even a grocery list says something about you; how much more does a novel say?

Even the crudest, most derivative novel is an expression of the author's hopes and fears and ideas about good and evil.