You have very accurately described the difficulty of presenting my books on film: many of my characters are alone most of the time, and when they do talk, what they say is mostly lies. That can make for a pretty confusing film.

I do try not to spend much time reading in the suspense genre.

All writers are mimics, and I'm not interested in picking up somebody else's style or voice.

Being comfortable isn't the way to learn to expand your abilities.

Yes, in my books I do edit myself to keep from becoming the Village Explainer.

If I don't have a project going, I sit down and begin to write something - a character sketch, a monologue, a description of some sight, or even just a list of ideas.

The characters you refer to as predatory and unsavory are useful. They're the ones who make a novel into a thriller. They're active, and most of the common virtues, the signs of a good person, are not.