I didn't feel the need for anonymous affection, for people in the dark applauding. To me, it would be like writing a novel and then getting up every night and reading your novel.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
We writers are shy, nocturnal creatures. Push us into the light and the light blinds us.
There is a huge difference between writing a book, which is a private activity I engage in with myself, and wanting to engage in overly intimate personal conversations with strangers, which I pretty much never want to do.
I think, in a written novel, the way in which you play with the readers' emotion or the way in which you engage the readers' emotions can be very indirect. You could come at it through irony or comedy, etcetera, and you could capture people's sympathies and feelings kind of by stealth if you like.
I think books that are meant to be read in the nighttime ought to confront the very fears that we're trying to think about.
When I had dark hair I definitely felt that I was more anonymous.
I like silence; I'm a gregarious loner and without the solitude, I lose my gregariousness.
I've always had a little bit of darkness, and I've always been someone who was grieving. I had kind of had a tumultuous upbringing living in an abusive home, so for me, writing has always been a point of catharsis.
Writing novels is where I'm most comfortable. It's a very intimate experience.
I don't try and be dark, but there are obviously darker emotions that I want to capture sometimes.
My goal as a writer is more to comfort than to disturb.