The cleaning is something I use as a reward if I get some work done. I go into a very happy state of mind when I'm vacuuming.

Life and people are complex. A writer as an artist doesn't have the personality of a politician. We don't see the world that simply.

. . . there is a wish in the heart of mankind to be distracted and confused. Truth is but one attraction, and not always the most powerful.

I have read on a Kindle. But the Kindle we had only worked for about eight months then it stopped working. You don't have to get books repaired.

For what is delusion but the prelude to hurt. And what is hurt but the prelude to rage.

I don't teach literature from my perspective as 'Joyce Carol Oates.' I try to teach fiction from the perspective of each writer. If I'm teaching a story by Hemingway, my endeavor is to present the story that Hemingway wrote in its fullest realization.

No, the thing is, we all love storytelling, and as a writer you get to tell stories all the time.