A Good Smoker, Like A Good Lover,

I Don't Much Believe In The Idea Of Characters. I Write With Words, That Is All. Whether Those Words Are Put In The Mouth Of This Or That Character Does Not Matter To Me

When I Write, The First Blank Page, Or Any Blank Page, Means Nothing To Me. What Means Something Is A Page That Has Been Filled With Words.

That Is What I Define As A Novel: Something That Has A Beginning, A Middle And An End, With Characters And A Plot That Sustain Interest From The First Sentence To The Last. But That Is Not What I Do At All.

I Read The Odyssey Because It Was The Story Of A Man Who Returned Home After Being Absent For More Than Twenty Years And Was Recognized Only By His Dog.

The Relationship Between Reader And Characters Is Very Difficult. It Is Even More Peculiar Than The Relationship Between The Writer And His Characters.