My family can always tell when I'm well into a novel because the meals get very crummy.

Try Jesus, you won't regret it, a billboard read.

Time, in general, has always been a central obsession of mine - what it does to people, how it can constitute a plot all on its own. So naturally, I am interested in old age.

It seems to me that good novels celebrate the mystery in ordinary life, and summing it all up in psychological terms strips the mystery away

There is no true life. Your true life is the one you end up with, whatever it may be. You just do the best you can with what you've got.

Mostly it's lies, writing novels. You set out to tell an untrue story and you try to make it believable, even to yourself. Which calls for details; any good lie does.

View your burden as a gift. It's the theme that has been given you to work with. Accept that and lean into it.