I definitely do feel a pull toward people and places that are far from my own life.
Clearly the secret of happiness...is a variation on the general principle of banging your head against a wall, and then stopping.
I suppose the short chapters and differing narrative points of view are quite "cinematic" devices, which came very naturally to me.
I don't think I could write about someone I didn't feel some sympathy for.
Whenever I pick up a book I think, "Tell me something I don't know."
...it just goes to show you can't leave anything behind. You bring it all with you, whether you want to or not.