The comments I most appreciate come from ordinary readers who've happened on one of my books at some time of stress in their lives, and who actually credit the book with helping them through a bad time. It's happened a few times in forty years. You've even written adaptations for movies and television. At this stage, my chief professional goal is simply to keep on writing and making a living at it. I have some good stories yet to tell.
Research is of considerable importance in certain fields, such as science and history.
For some of the Dracula books, the microfilm files of the Times of London have raised fascinating possibilities. And what we know, or think we know, about the universe of space and time is changing very quickly. Mysteries I read for fun, so I will probably never write one, for fear of spoiling the fun. Information doesn't want anything. My gut feeling is that paper and ink are going to be with us for a long time yet, and in substantial quantities, though certainly books are now going to be available in other forms.