We need the skeletons of other stories to understand our own, sometimes.

Everything is cyclical. Historical eras go through times of intense cynicism, broken by periods of intense idealism.

If there's a black cat that crosses the street in my path, I will turn around and walk 20 minutes out of my way to not cross it.

I won't walk under scaffolding or under ladders. I wear things like a baseball player wears things that are supposed to have luck. I am superstitious about everything.

It's wonderful that nothing you write is ever going to be as beautiful as what's in your head, because that gap is where the art can enter and begin to stretch its limbs.

A female writer does definitely get more attention if she writes about male characters. It's true. It's considered somehow more literary, in the same way that it's more literary to write about supposedly male subjects, such as war. You're considered more seriously by the literary establishment.

I've always relied on producing more material than I need. With each of my published novels I've written around four times the amount of material that's ended up in the book.