I felt suddenly cruel, like I´d told dmall children there was no tooth fairy, that it was just their Mom sneaking into their room after they went to bed.

When you started thinking it was easy, you were forgetting what it cost.

...You know the mistrust of heights is the mistrust of self, you don't know whether you're going to jump.

I usually start with something that has some energy, like a compressed character or a situation that's wound up like a spring. Then all I have to do is let it go, let its energy carry the story. And that may not turn out to be the beginning of the book.

How many people ask you to come share their life?

A book's flaws make it less predictable.

To make films, you have to have boundless energy; you have to work and play with others really, really well, and I'm really a more contemplative kind of person. I like to sit at home and think, a lot.