Of course, I should have done what doctors said and walked for miles every day and not eaten great amounts of butter. But then, life is life, and if we all did what they said we should do, it would be a different world.

If I see Marian Keyes' books or Patricia Scanlan's books given more prominence than mine in the bookstore, I'll move mine to the front. I've told them I do this, and they've confessed to doing the same thing to me.

I think I'm brave because I've made decisions based - I hope not entirely selfishly - on what I think is right for me to do next.

Women who start out as ugly ducklings don't become beautiful swans. What they mainly become is confident ducks. They take charge of their lives.

You're much more believable if you talk in your own voice.

Never mind money; the gifts of time and skill call into being the richest marketplace in the world.

I look placid, you see, that's why people think I'm fine. Inside I worry a lot.