What exactly did people do when they had all the time in the world and could do whatever they liked?

Why do people not listen when you say no? Why do they think you are too stupid or too young to understand? Why do they think you are too shy to reply? Why do they keep badgering you until you will say yes?

Read a lot, live your life, and listen and watch, so that your mind fills up with millions of images.

I prayed to trees. This was easier than praying directly to God. There was nearly always a tree nearby.

My granny Torrelli says when you are angry with someone, so angry you are thinking hateful things, so angry maybe you want to punch them, then you should think of the good things about them, and the nice things they've said, and why you liked them in the first place.

What exactly did people do when they had all the time in the world and could do whatever they liked?

I entered a poem in a poetry contest around 1987, and the poem won and I received $1,000 for it. That made me realize that maybe what I was writing was worth reading to people. After that, for some reason, I turned to novels and I've written mainly novels ever since.