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.

My mother, who was quite sharp when I was young, became utterly mild.

[In 16th century European society] Marriage was the triumphal arch through which women, almost without exception, had to pass in order to reach the public eye. And after marriage followed, in theory, the total self-abnegation of the woman.

My mother was a politician in my formative years.

The clue to book jacket photography is to look friendly and approachable, but not too glamorous.

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