Three things are required of you: the wishes you made when you first knew the breadth of this life; the contract you signed when you decided your wishes were not true or possible; and the exacting of the punishment you agreed to when you knew you would break the contract of your life.

I'm an elephant today. I will need to have lots of room and also a bowl of water on the floor.

Much of my work has been done in first person.

A beginning idea for a book might be: a boy emerges from a hole in the ground. He enters a house. The book will take place in the first ten minutes following his arrival.

I begin with an image of some sort, just as if you saw something out of a window, and then went to the window to see what it was.

As far as ideas about book design: I have plenty. But I also try and let people do their jobs.

One can't say how one behaved or why, really. Such situations, they are far more complex than any either/or proposition. It is simplistic to produce events in pairs and lean them against each other like cards. I suppose if you a playing go or shogi, then such a thing might be helpful, but that is not life.