That is my major concern: writers who are in prison for writing.

My mother was a politician in my formative years.

If I write that it was a cold day, you can be sure I know it was a cold day because Pepys told us.

Lives in previous centuries for women are largely a matter of class. It would have been fun to have been a rich, privileged woman in the 18th century, but no fun at all to be her maid.

I realize that I had always in my heart of hearts planned to write a biography of Marie Antoinette.

I can't read historical fiction because I find the real thing so much more interesting.

I love hearing details of writers' craft, as cannibals eat the brains of clever men to get cleverer.