I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get

I do write long, long character notes - family background, history, details of appearance - much more than will ever appear in the novel. I think this is what lifts a book from that early calculated, artificial stage.

I think it must be very hard to be one of the new young writers who are urged to put themselves forward when it may be the last thing on earth they'd be good at

Time, in general, has always been a central obsession of mine - what it does to people, how it can constitute a plot all on its own. So naturally, I am interested in old age.

When you have children, you're obligated to live.

Once your mind is caught on the right snag, there's nothing so hard about the mechanics of writing.

My writing day has grown shorter as I've aged, although it seems to produce the same number of pages.