People sometimes think that I bring home all these old books because I'm addicted, that I'm no better than a hoarder with a houseful of crumbling newspapers.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I know that the last thing a book wants is to just sit around unread, serving as an element of interior decorating. So when I have people over, all they have to do is glance at my books, and I implore them to take a few home with them. If I am really ambitious, I pack books into boxes and donate them to prisons.
I'm somewhat of a hoarder. I keep everything.
I do like having books on my shelves. I do value that life.
You want all your books to stick around after you've gone.
I've been around long enough now that people who don't get into the outrageousness, the over-the-top stuff, they know not to buy my books anymore.
I don't normally have time to read, so when I go away I like to take a few books.
There are many days when I want to throw my computer out the window, when I tell myself I'd be better off selling shoes at the mall. But I always keep at it, because I have to. Writing is completely part of who I am. Even if I never published another book, I would keep at it - because it feeds my life and makes it richer.
I don't keep any copies of my books in the house - they go to my mum's flat. I don't like them around.
I can no more reread my own books than I can watch old home movies or look at snapshots of myself as a child. I wind up sitting on the floor, paralyzed by grief and nostalgia.
I always knew that I wanted to live with books, even as a child, because we traveled a lot. Home was the book to which I came back every evening.