But who can foresee such things? None of us can predict the final outcomes of our actions, and few of us even try; most of us just do what we do to prolong a moment's pleasure or to stop the pain. And even when we act for the noblest reasons, the last link of the chain all too often drips with someone's blood.

The loss of memory isn't always the problem; sometimes--maybe even often--it's the solution.

In these silences something may rise

The town kept its secrets, and the Marsten House brooded over it like a ruined king.

Wherever you write is supposed to be a little bit of a refuge, a place where you can get away from the world. The more closed in you are, the more you're forced back on your own imagination.

As a rule, I don't worry about genre. I just want to tell a good story, with characters that interest me and my readers.

The ghost story movie that scared me the most was The Changeling with George C. Scott. I think that's sometimes overlooked, but it's a wonderful piece of work.