Not to be alone. To be spared the possibility of knowing oneself, in aloneness.

I'm drawn to write about upstate New York in the way in which a dreamer might have recurring dreams. My childhood and girlhood were spent in upstate New York, in the country north of Buffalo and West of Rochester. So this part of New York state is very familiar to me and, with its economic difficulties, has become emblematic of much of American life.

Before I undertake a lengthy project, I have usually given much thought to it over a period of years. My files are filled with likely subjects - which perhaps, one day, I will develop.

Why is humanism not the preeminent belief of humankind?

Her problem wasn't she was a dumb blonde, it was she wasn't a blonde and she wasn't dumb.

I don't think I'm morbid by nature. Serious writers have always written about serious subjects. Lighthearted material doesn't appeal to me, and I don't read it. I think I'm a realist, with a realistic sensibility of history and the tragedy of history.

Much of my writing is energized by unresolved memories - something like ghosts in the psychological sense.