For obviously the advantage for most writers is that no one sees them. The writer is invisible, which confers power.

Self-criticism, like self-administered brain surgery, is perhaps not a good idea. Can the 'self' see the 'self' with any objectivity?

Often in gothic novels there's a large house, an estate, and it's symbolic of that culture. Usually it's sort of moldering or rotted or something, and sometimes it's a whole community.

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.

It's rare that we actively and consciously 'forget'; most of the time we have simply forgotten, with no consciousness of having forgotten. In individuals, the phenomenon is called 'denial'; in entire cultures and nations, it's usually called 'history.

I learned long ago that being Lewis Carroll was infinitely more exciting than being Alice.

I come from people who did not go to college. They didn't even finish high school. People who one might call ordinary Americans who are very hardworking.