Anyone can be shamed, but feeling guilt requires empathy within.

I'm comfortable with anything after the fact.

If you're going to make an emotional connection with somebody, whether it's in the story or in the world, there's a certain amount of self-acceptance that is required.

I had to go in and do the work of toning [invented "historical" bits] down in order to make them fit [in Lincoln in the Bardo]. It's like if you're an actor and you're always overacting, well, you're a bad actor. But if you're an actor who subdues yourself to the extent that's necessary, then you're really acting.

The internet kind of feels like happiness sometimes, however. It feels like stimulation.

I actually do believe in life after death.

Realism is to fiction what gravity is to walking: a confinement that allows dancing under the right circumstances.