No sane man can afford to dispense with debilitating pleasures. No ascetic can be considered reliably sane.
I have too many responsibilities and principles. There's no time for 'guilty' pleasures.
Normally, I just sit in my quiet little room and do the small things that bring me pleasures. I read my books, I answer email, I write a little bit.
Going to a restaurant is one of my keenest pleasures. Meeting someplace with old and new friends, ordering wine, eating food, surrounded by strangers, I think is the core of what it means to live a civilised life.
Eating is one of the great pleasures of life.
One of the pleasures of getting older and making a living the way you want to is that your social circle becomes rarified, and the people who enter have been vetted.
I don't feel guilty about any of my pleasures.
For me, even in my first book, the pleasures of writing anything magical is that it has to be physical. It has to be grounded and very much in this world. Then, I get to play with all the consequences of this new thing.
For me, the most luxurious place is somewhere that allows you to feel emotions and pleasures.
We can finish a house, but never a home. Once you fall in love with a house, you find continual pleasures in fixing it up and making innovations that satisfy your creature's comforts.
