All of Louisiana's a poem, |
Each novel should be self-contained. That's what I aim for. Each should deal with a different theme and plot situations. The challenge is to encapsulate events and characters out of the past in such a way that the reader is familiar with the larger story, without being repetitive. That's what art is. |
Every artist knows that at some point the gift he has will eventually be made manifest. He will, at some point, see the work he has done improve the lives of others around him. But I think every artist also realizes that time will go away from him, too. Success is a fickle companion. |
Every rejection is incremental payment on your dues that in some way will be translated back into your work. |
I think of New Orleans as a gift from heaven for a writer, |
I used to save all my rejection slips because I told myself, one day I'm going to autograph these and auction them. And then I lost the box. |
I wouldn't write anything autobiographical. If you've lived a life like Laurence of Arabia, it might be a consideration, but otherwise it's a little bit vain, it seems to me. |
I'm not sure the city can come back. |
If it goes away, the success that I've enjoyed has been way beyond my greatest expectations so I've nothing to complain about. |
It's a city in which all forms of eccentricity were not just tolerated but always welcomed. There is no way to shock people in New Orleans. Tennessee Williams found a home there, and it's no coincidence. |
Its history is emblematic of every event that has occurred in our history — the pre-Revolutionary colonial era, the age of exploration, and slavery, extermination of Native Americans, and then of course the War between the States, it's all right there in the city of New Orleans. |
Never read bad stuff if you're an artist; it will impair your own game. |
New Orleans was always America's netherworld, a sexual playground, like the Baths of Caracalla at the bottom of a Puritan country. Its history is emblematic of every event that has occurred in our history - the pre-Revolutionary colonial era, the age of exploration, and slavery, extermination of native Americans, and then of course the war between the states, it's all right there in the city of New Orleans. |
That's one of the great advantages of age. You can say, I don't want to, I don't care, you can throw temper tantrums, and nobody minds. |
The only thing an artist has to remember is to never lose faith in his vision. |