As a female in a home with a whole bunch of brothers and being very close to my father, without a mother and later having a hostile relationship with my stepmother, there were all kinds of Freudian issues rising from possessing a female body that I had to negotiate with no guidance, and I did this negotiation almost instinctually.

When I was younger, yes, there was a part of me - and I wrote about that bit in Among the White Moon Faces - that wanted to be a boy. I wanted to be accepted by my brothers and to be their peers.

It's why muse is so impatient with me. I don't ever go to her until after the teaching or whatever is over.

It is true that my characters have sex.

I don't really get into the power sufficiently, and that's also a problem for me.

My muse is very often, in my mind, a nagger. She nags me.

I'm always resisting [my muse]. I'm resisting her power.