With The Nightingale, I had been kicking the idea around for years. I was frightened to write it because on the surface it seems so different for me.

[I am more than happy to invite my five favorite fictional characters.]Roland Deschain from Stephen King's Dark Tower series. There's a whole world about Roland left to know. I've got questions. He'd have answers. So pour him a glass of wine.

I know that sounds ineffective and daunting, but it [throw hundreds of pages away] is actually my favorite part of the writing process.

You learned to run from what you feel, and that's why you have nightmares. To deny is to invite madness. To accept is to control.

In the end, the best part of the whole book [The Nightingale ] to me was the research, reading about the courageous, ordinary French women who put their lives on the line to save others. It was really inspirational.

Historical tends to be my bailiwick.

All life's a risk, that's what makes it interesting.