'Show up at the desk' is one of the first rules of writing, but for 'Wolf Hall' I was about 30 years late.

Fiction leaves us so much work to do, allows the individual so much input; you have to see, you have to hear, you have to taste the madeleine, and while you are seemingly passive in your chair, you have to travel.

Every leader operates under the threat of assassination.

But an experienced reader is also a self-aware and critical reader. I can't remember ever reading a story without judging it.

I am usually protective of my work, not showing it to anyone until it has been redrafted and polished.

It was a very funny conference. I knew [Christopher Hitchens] before that. He had always been a good angel to me. He once stole a phrase from me that came out of his mouth on television. I saw his eyes move sideways. I thought, It's alright, you can have it! The conference was light on women. Salman Rushdie showed up, they were doing their own thing. I didn't feel neglected!

He turns to the painting. "I fear Mark was right." "Who is Mark?" "A silly little boy who runs after George Boleyn. I once heard him say I looked like a murderer." Gregory says, "Did you not know?