Though I revise constantly as I write, I will usually revise much of the work again after I've reached the ending.

No, the thing is, we all love storytelling, and as a writer you get to tell stories all the time.

People might be surprised to know how much I throw away. For every page I publish, I throw 10 pages away.

Look at the world and see what's there. It's very beautiful. It's a very exciting but in some ways treacherous world, and all this goes into the writing.

Very few writers of distinction in fact were outstanding as undergraduates.

I remember once asking Grandma about a book she was reading, a biography of Abraham Lincoln, and how she answered me: this was the first conversation of my life that concerned a book, and 'the life of the mind' - and now, such subjects have become my life.

Dear girl! Life is addictive. Yet we must live.