What I do with the story itself varies of course, but what I want to do is to present the world so that the reader can access it without tripping over the details.

Worldbuilding to me is taking the consequences of an idea.

I come from a nation where fantastic fiction has a very low status, unless it fits into some very specific categories or is written by already established authors. I don't by any means try to hide what I write, but the way people think in categories here is pretty extreme: it blots out discussing the actual work on its own terms. That's made me loath to talk about my own work in terms of genre, because once you get a label, it sticks and poof go a slew of potential readers and reviewers because eww, fantasy cooties.

You have to be aware what the consequences are of the approach you take.

I'm just being honest about the fact that a second language won't resonate with you like the first does.

My early stories revolved around reality and faith. I wrote a series of stories about the darker aspects of Christian myth: a woman who hides in the attic and watches the Apocalypse, a cult whose members preserve themselves in huge formalin tubs waiting for the Second Coming, and so on.

To the goats, all people are equal, except for those who have treats.