Cats, I always think, only jump into your lap to check if you are cold enough, yet, to eat.

Only bad writers think that their work is really good.

To be able to have the space to sit down and write has always been my central policy.

People whose lives are upside down often read fiction. When you're not sure where you'll end up or how you are going to be, and you're looking for some way forward, fiction is a great friend.

When I'm working, I'm not so much disciplined as obsessive. I have this feeling that I need to clear everything away and get this down.

I do wish I could write like some of the American women, who can be clever and heartfelt and hopeful; people like Lorrie Moore and Jennifer Egan. But Ireland messed me up too much, I think, so I can't.

Writing is not my problem, it is my solution.