Some people are aware of everything that is going on everywhere at every moment in their lives.

Liam really enjoyed a good movie. He found it restful to watch people's conversations without being expected to join in. But he always felt sort of lonesome if he didn't have someone next to him to nudge in the ribs at the good parts.

Just because we're related doesn't mean we are any good at understanding each other.

For me, writing something down was the only road out...I hated childhood, and spent it sitting behind a book waiting for adulthood to arrive. When I ran out of books I made up my own. At night, when I couldn't sleep, I made up stories in the dark.

The Amateur Marriage grew out of the reflection that of all the opportunities to show differences in character, surely an unhappy marriage must be the richest.

My family can always tell when I'm well into a novel because the meals get very crummy.

For my own family, I would always choose the makeshift, surrogate family formed by various characters unrelated by blood.