When I was little, I went to a Catholic school and was required to go to church every morning and with my parents on Sundays, so I spent a lot of time sitting on a wooden pew. Angels are sort of a relief. If you're looking around, the other imagery is so dark and heavy. Looking at the beautifully rendered pictures of angels was more uplifting.

I always knew I wanted to write really imaginative fiction - fiction that was very different from my real life.

Maybe that is what marriage is: Two people creating a cult together.

Even the good angels, I think, would inspire in humans some sort of fear.

Stories of a mythical angel paradise called an Angelopolis are like Peter Pan's Never Never Land.

As a girl, I used to zip myself into a snowsuit, fall into the deepest snowdrift I could find and sweep my arms and legs into the powder, making snow angels that would crumble within minutes of their genesis. Despite their rapid disappearance, something about these frozen, evanescent angels has stayed with me ever since.

Finding one's voice - or creating a narrative voice that has the power to carry your story - is the hardest part.