We're not keen on the idea of the story sharing its valence with the reader. But the reader's own life "outside" the story changes the story.

If you're writing fiction, you're dealing with characters who, themselves, will have heartfelt sentiments but who, themselves, live in this culture right now and thus face all the impediments to sort of dealing with those parts of their lives that, you know, that we did. So it would be not only silly but unrealistic to have a character saying that kind of stuff.

Te Occidere Possunt Sed Te Edere Non Possunt Nefas Est" ("They can kill you, but the legalities of eating you are quite a bit dicier").

...Genuine pathological openness is about as seductive as Tourette's Syndrome.

For these cultures, getting rid of the pain without addressing the deeper cause would be like shutting off a fire alarm while the fire's still going.

I just think that fiction that isn't exploring what it means to be human today isn't art.

every failure is also a victory.