Now that I live in Southern California, my current world certainly speaks to me, and I sense that my next book will have a more American and southerly setting. But that's certainly not to say I won't be back to Leaford.

Because I live in California now, I find my musings really being centered in this world.

What is it about sadness that can be so fulfilling?

Art isn't a product. It's an experience

I have had, like most women, a lifelong preoccupation with my weight. My first published short story was a love story between an elderly man and a very young morbidity obese woman.

We're seeing a decline in religion in North America but, I hope, a rise in individual spirituality. Whatever that means to people.

Winning the lottery is winning the lottery. It's highly unlikely and very unusual.