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

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.

It was my father who taught me to value myself. He told me that I was uncommonly beautiful and that I was the most precious thing in his life.

I don't read novels whilst I'm writing one; I just haven't got a wide enough brain to concentrate on incoming and outgoing in the same time zone.

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

The only time I did not know how to be, physically, was when I lost a lot of weight. That was the only time I didn't understand my body.

My daughter couldn't care less about me being famous. She finds it revolting and, like a lot of teenagers, is virtually allergic to me. That started at 12 and hasn't gone anywhere yet.