I seem always to have two or three novels going at once. It takes me a long time to finish one.
I'm not even sure if empathy is an act, it could be a disposition.
I just write what I want to read, and sometimes keeping it interesting means adding one more element that ends up adding another year to the work.
Paranoia can be a sign of a sanity in some circumstances, in some places and times.
Trauma, and certain important experiences, can imprint on us at a genetic level.
We want to know that we're not alone with our loneliness or loss.