I read a lot of social history. If I'm in an art gallery and a picture intrigues me, I immediately write down the title and I google it. I do a lot of googling and looking out for good stories. I can almost smell them sometimes.

What's crucial about being an executive producer is that you stay in the loop, information-wise. They have to share all their major decisions with you.

If I was made of cake I'd eat myself before somebody else could.

Stories are a different kind of true.

...sentences swallowed and sung back and swallowed all over again. She was made entirely out of words.

So much as I enjoy big novels of epic sweep, I often find, say, if they follow several generations, by the third generation, I'm not caring about the people anymore.

I tend to be so lost in the work that I don't notice the weather. My partner will come home and say, 'Beautiful day, wasn't it?' and I'll say, 'Was it?' as I won't have noticed the real world at all.