All writing, all art, is an act of faith. If one tries to contribute to human understanding, how can that be called decadent? It's like saying a declaration of love is an act of decadence. Any work of art, provide it springs from a sincere motivation to further understanding between people, is an act of faith and therefore is an act of love.

My major regret in life is that my childhood was unnecessarily lonely.

Well, I'm about as tall as a shotgun, and just as noisy.

I am a completely horizontal author. I can't think unless I'm lying down, either in bed or stretched on a couch.

When I'm writing, I never write more than four hours a day.

Writing in the first person automatically gives you a point of view.

There is really no practical help that one can offer: it is a matter of self-discovery, of one's own conviction, or working with one's own work; your style is what seems natural to you. It is a long process of discovery, one that never ends. I am working at it, and will be as long as I live.