1. What is your opinion on karma?

I think karma is one of those things that we tell ourselves to make us feel better when bad things happen. We think, “He’ll get his in the end,” and that somehow makes us feel better as we think of all the ways that the universe could punish that ex-boyfriend.

Then again, I’ve seen it happen so many times that I should believe it. I can’t use my experience as proof for the belief in karma. I’ve noticed, however, that many people end up bringing to them the things that they do to others. They reap what they sow. They bring their evil wishes upon themselves threefold. Call it karma. Call it justice. I’ve seen it happen too many times to discount it.

In the end, however, I don’t believe in karma. I’ve seen it happen to people, but that is not proof. It takes a flawless proof to convince a mathematician. It takes a double-blind controlled study to convince a scientist. My life is not a double-blind controlled study.

2. If anything, do you think attitude makes any difference? If you believe the world and life are good, will good things radiate toward you? If you believe otherwise, will it all be a self fulfilling prophecy?

I do think that attitude make a difference if only because people like to be around people with a positive attitude. I don’t know about good things gravitating toward you, much less radiating. Self-fulfilling prophecies are literary devices used to foreshadow the plotline so that when it actually happens, the reader feels proud that they figured it out themselves. I don’t believe self-fulfilling prophecies exist in “real life,” but that won’t stop me from using them in fiction.

3. How has luck/chance/facts-of-life/God/karma/nature treated you so far?

I hate to think of myself as a play thing of the universe. I prefer to think that the good things that have happened in my life were a direct result of something that I did. Of course, the corollary to that belief is that the bad things that have happened in my life are entirely my fault also. That sucks when everything goes pear shaped.

4. What is your opinion of the concept of destinies?

I don’t believe in destiny. The only time I bring it up the concept of destiny is when I want to bug someone, when I’m manipulating their emotions, or when I use it as a literary device. Humans like to believe in destiny, so it is something that pleases the audience.

5. Are both bad and good things needed in order to truly live life? Can you have the bad without the good? The good without the bad?

This is one of those religious and philosophical concepts that is used to justify all manner of stupidity and violence. How can there be an all-knowing, all-powerful and ever-present being if there is suffering in the world? How can God exist if there is evil? The popular justification of evil is the concept that you need to have the bad in life to truly enjoy the good. I don’t know how I feel about this. Sometimes it makes me angry because it lets stupid people believe in God. Other times, I’ve found it to be true. Maybe I’ll talk about this in greater detail later. Maybe not.