When you have a novel set in a fictional history, you still should get your history right.

The metaphor is the story, not the character.

The metaphors exist for the stories.

I think the purpose of deconstruction is to take something apart and see how it works. If you're not going to put it back together again and watch it go, what's the point?

I could name you a dozen superheroes whose powers I'd like to have. But if I could have any power in the world, it would be the power to read or watch a creative work and absorb the technical skill of the people who made it. Because then I could have even more fun writing. That's my core identity.

Dracula, if he could see modern corporations, wouldnt like them much. He took care of his people, at least as he saw it. They had very little freedom, but they had a protector.

If there's ever a character who can only serve one metaphor, I'll probably tell one story with that character and be done with it.