Hugh returned from his trip, and days later I still sounded like a Red Chinese asking questions about the democratic hinterlands. "And you actually saw people smoking in restaurants? Really! And offices, too? Oh, tell me again about the ashtrays in the hospital waiting room, and don't leave anything out."

As a child I assumed that when I reached adulthood, I would have grown-up thoughts.

I meet people at book signings. My record now, for signing, is ten and a half hours in one sitting.

Sometimes people say, do you want a drink? And I say, oh, I'd like to, but I'm a tragic alcoholic. I always say tragic. I'm a tragic alcoholic.

Maybe one day, I would write a story about arguing in public, and those would come in handy in some way.

I guess my guilty pleasure would be listening to the British audio versions of the 'Harry Potter' books.

If you read someone else's diary, you get what you deserve.