My Main Reader Was My Wife Sheila,

Imaginative Empathy Is One Of The Great Gifts That Humans Have, And It Means That We Can Live More Than One Life. We Can Picture What It Would Be Like From Another Perspective.

I've Been Reading Peter Straub Since I Was A Teenager, And His Work Is Hardwired Into My Brain. A Dark Matter Contains Echoes Of All That Has Been Great About Straub's Previous Work And Builds Upon It. This Rashomon-like Tale Is As Spooky And Frightening As Anything He Has Written, But It's Also An Intense And Moving Celebration Of Love. Out Of The Darkness Comes, Ultimately, A Surprising And Haunting Sense Of Joy.

Fiction Is Fun Because You Get To Steal An Identity And Try To Make It Authentic.

The Thing That Grounds You, And The Thing That Really Gives You A Sense Of Wholeness, Is Your Family, Friends And Your Community. Those Are The Things That Can Mirror Back To You What You're Experiencing, And Can Affirm To You That The Stories You Are Telling Are True.

Writing A Short Story Is A Little Like Walking Into A Dark Room, Finding A Light And Turning It On. The Light Is The End Of The Story.