When I was 16, I started publishing all kinds of things in school magazines.

Was this a betrayal, or was it an act of courage? Perhaps both. Neither one involves forethought: such things take place in an instant, in an eyeblink. This can only be because they have been rehearsed by us already, over and over, in silence and darkness; in such silence, such darkness, that we are ignorant of them ourselves. Blind but sure-footed, we step forward as if into a remembered dance.

Pink is supposed to weaken your enemies, make them go soft on you, which must be why it's used for baby girls. It's a wonder the military hasn't got on to this.

Vanity is becoming a nuisance, I can see why women give it up, eventually. But I'm not ready for that yet.

I myself have 12 hats and each one represents a different personality. Why just be yourself.

The object is very clear in the fight against racism; you have reasons why you're opposed to it. But when you're writing a novel, you don't want the reader to come out of it voting yes or no to some question. Life is more complicated than that.

You hear doom and gloom about the Internet ruining young people's command of English - that's nonsense.