The realistic value of a work is completely independent of its properties in terms of content.
I am never satisfied with myself and that is what keeps me going - I have no post-satisfaction.
Whenever I've been stuck on a project, it's always brought me solace to the return to books that moved me in the past. It's a nice way to get outside my own head; and it brings me back to one of the most important reasons I write at all: to bring some pleasure to readers, to make them think or feel.

