I think probably I'm quite sentimental; I like big emotional stories, I like being moved by things, but I think I'm very embarrassed by sentiment. I'm very embarrassed by corniness.

I think I became a writer because I used to write letters to my friends, and I used to love writing them. I loved the idea that you can put marks on a page and send it off, and two days later, someone laughs somewhere else in the world.

…she was discovering once again that reading and writing were not the same — you couldn't just soak it up then squeeze it out again.

Time to tidy up your life. Time to start again.

I still find it absurdly difficult to concentrate on a novel if there's a phone or computer to hand; I have taken to locking them outside the room like noisy pets.

For some time now she has had the conviction that life is about to change if only because it must. . . .

This isn't a letter, it's a gift.