I'm quite interested in the absolute roots of narrative, why we tell stories at all: where the monsters come from.

And, in fact, this is the tale that I would love to write: history is such a romantic place, with its jarveys and urchins and side-buttoned boots. If it would just stay still, I think, and settle down. If it would just stop sliding around in my head.

The writing day can be, in some ways, too short, but it's actually a long series of hours, for months at a time, and there is a stillness there.

I think writers worry that you might not exist in some strange way if you're not writing.

I find being Irish quite a wearing thing. It takes so much work because it is a social construction. People think you are going to be this, this, and this.

Try to be accurate about stuff.

I am interested in silences