You see mother, you had no life of your own. They have no idea. One has only a life of one's own.

Our house is like an empty cigarette packet, lying around reminding you what's not in it.

What keeps you going isn't some fine destination but just the road you're on, and the fact that you know how to drive.

Plot comes first. The plot is the archictecture of your novel. You wouldn't build a house without a plan. If I wrote without a plot, it would just be a pile of bricks. Characters are your servants. They must serve your plot.

I learned to produce whether I wanted to or not. It would be easy to say oh, I have writer's block, oh, I have to wait for my muse. I don't. Chain that muse to your desk and get the job done.

Oh, that river of wishes, the slippery crocodile dream of it, how it might have carried my body down through all the glittering sand bars to the sea.

It is completely usual for me to get up in the morning, take a look around, and laugh out loud.