When people leave, they always seem to scoop themselves out of you.

I discovered that the horse is life itself, a metaphor but also an example of life's mystery and unpredictability, of life's generosity and beauty, a worthy object of repeated and ever changing contemplation.

The one thing ... maybe no family could tolerate was things coming out into the open.

I have reared, or helped to rear, five children and the scariest bit, bar none, is the learning to drive part. It has filled me with anxiety not only about the children, but also about my former self and my friends.

Why are we reading a Shakespeare play or 'Huckleberry Finn?' Well, because these works are great, but they also tell us something about the times in which they were created. Unfortunately, previous eras and dead authors often used language or accepted as normal sentiments that we now find unacceptable.

Before I write a novel, images float around in my head that work like icons - they are meaningless in themselves, but serve as reminders.

I thought I might write mysteries for the rest of my life.