If Everyting's The Same, Then There Aren't

Gathering Blue' Was A Separate Book. I Wanted To Explore What A Society Might Become After A Catastrophic World Event. Only At The End Did I Realize I Could Make It Connect To 'the Giver.

I Don't Set Out To Transmit A Message. I Don't Write With A Political Point Of View. There Are No Religious Overtones. Looking Back At My Books, I Can Say, 'oh, Yes, It Is There.' But It's Not In My Mind When I Write.

I Turn To Books For A Feeling Of Companionship: For Somebody Knowing What I Have Known.

Now He Saw Another Elephant Emerge From The Place Where It Had Stood Hidden In The Trees. Very Slowly It Walked To The Mutilated Body And Looked Down. With Its Sinuous Trunk It Struck The Huge Corpse; Then It Reached Up, Broke Some Leafy Branches With A Snap, And Draped Them Over The Mass Of Torn Thick Flesh. Finally It Tilted Its Massive Head, Raised Its Trunk, And Roared Into The Empty Landscape.

So Many Of My Books, I Don't Want To Say They Have Messages, But They Have Important Things To Say.