I don't categorize myself as an 85-year-old woman who has written an erotic novel. I categorize myself as a writer who's written an erotic novel.

There's a saying I read recently; I painted it on the fireplace and in my studio: "Be kind to everyone you meet, for everyone is fighting a great battle." We all are. Everyone.

I'm a ham. I always like to answer spontaneously.

You breathe in and out; you breathe in and you breathe out, and you live one moment into the next moment, and then time goes by, and you find you're able to put one foot in front of the other.

When I started travelling, I would go to a city and be on television and I used to get the question, 'Why do you work? If I were you, I'd just go and lie on a beach somewhere.' And I'd answer, 'Well, I wanted to make something of my life.

When I was photographed, I didn't feel I was acting. I just felt I was being photographed. It sort of taught me things about myself that I didn't know and was trying to find out.

When I was being photographed, I always felt very much in my own skin. That's probably one of the reasons why I enjoy being photographed.