Three of my novels and a good number of my short stories are told from the point of view of men. I was brought up in a house of women.

Writing tends to be very deliberate. A novelist could probably run a military campaign with some success. They could certainly run a country.

While historians may go on attempting grand, sweeping and defining narratives, they work in a time when readers know that another narrative always lies in wait, and that the more intelligent an historian is, the more tentative and self-scrutinizing the tone.

“One Minus One’”and “Barcelona, 1975” are more or less autobiographical.

All writing is a form of manipulation, of course, but you realize that a plain sentence can actually do so much.

As I settled down to sleep in that new bed in the dark city, I saw that it was too late now, too late for everything. I would not be given a second chance. In the hours when I woke, I have to tell you that this struck me almost with relief.

John McGovern taught me that it's OK to write repeatedly about the same things.