Theatre outings are my favourite thing to spend money on. The most influential play I saw was Bent, which starred Ian McKellen. And I loved the original performance of The Rocky Horror Show, with Richard OBrien and Tim Curry at the Royal Court, when I was about 15.

I'll always be a fat girl and I am happy with that.

When I wrote 'Dear Fatty,' I realised that sitting and writing alone is an absolute joy.

I think of myself now as a writer, although I wouldn't go as far as to say 'novelist' because that sounds like a Victorian person.

Any people whose lives are about the way they look, whether it's fat or thin, are in a dangerous area.

For me, whatever age or size I've been, I have rather liked myself. The shell is not the thing at all.

I do think you are supposed to go through wars with your child because otherwise the tearing apart that has to happen when they go off to lead their own life would be unbearable.