"Is it bad to have pretend secrets?"
"In a detective story it's all right. For entertainment. For make believe."
"When are pretend secrets wrong?"
"Whenever someone wants to learn."
"What if they want to learn to write a make-believe story?"
Do you ever consider your customers when you work on something? I mean, do you only follow your own instincts or do you imagine what might be tasteful or interesting to others I don't write detective fiction, but I imagine there is the basic form, genre, which is largely unconscious, and then there is the elaboration which is highly variable. Is that variation wholly determined by an uncompromising attitude on the part of the author or does he look over his shoulder so to speak and imagine how the audience will react, like an actor. Do you come up against this kind of consideration in your work?"