Fiction is socially meaningful.

He didn't like very many people any more, or very many things either. He preferred not to be this way, but there it was, he was like that. His cynicism, a veteran's cynicism, was a thing that disturbed him all the time.

When I went to college I took a creative writing class and decided in a week to be a writer.

The real question is: How do you react? What do you do next? Evade responsibilities? Bury yourself in work? What do you do? All three of my novels take up that question, although none gives an answer.

Don Quixote is one that comes to mind in comparison to mine, in that they both involve journeys undertaken by older men. That is unusual, because generally the hero of a journey story is very young.

What some people interpret as brooding melancholy is serenity. I don't feel required to grasp all the time.

At one level you're condemned to the voice you have. But within those confines, you have a certain amount of freedom to range among your possible voices.