I do think that it is one of the eternal questions about art, though - is all art intrinsically selfish?

The motivation to paint seems more pure, or at least more personal, when the artist is doing it for herself.

I was at an art museum with my parents, and was quite taken with a [Vincent] Van Gogh painting. I stood admiring the painting for some time, and then realized that in addition to feeling moved by the beauty of the painting, I felt a little jealous of the painter.

The book [The Dissemblers] officially came out two weeks after my thirtieth birthday...am I still young?

Finally, I found a wonderful agent who wanted to work with me, and she sent it to one billion publishers and received one billion rejections, until I was fortunate enough to be matched up with the Permanent Press.

Does art play a role in the greater good of society, or does it just promote the satisfaction of the artist? I go back and forth on that question.

I was loosely aware that most of my characters were fundamentally selfish people, but I didn't intentionally make that a theme.