Our enemy is by tradition our savior, in preventing us from superficiality.

We are all regionalists in our origins, however 'universal' our themes and characters, and without our cherished hometowns and childhood landscapes to nourish us, we would be like plants set in shallow soil. Our souls must take root - almost literally.

All that matters in life is forging deep ties of love and family and friends. Writing and reading come later.

Obviously the imagination is fueled by emotions beyond the control of the conscious mind.

Often in gothic novels there's a large house, an estate, and it's symbolic of that culture. Usually it's sort of moldering or rotted or something, and sometimes it's a whole community.

You need so much energy and encouragement to write that if someone says something negative, some of that energy goes.