she hurriedly wipes her eyes so that he can see the girl he wishes.

An idea or an insight doesn't come from a single happening, it requires a meeting to alter a perspective. Often it takes a while for the events to collide, but when they do it is inevitable that a change will follow.

Growing up in England, people told you why you couldn't do things. Suddenly, I had a publisher banging on my door, and was given the creative green light to simply make.

One of the key pleasures of receiving a letter is the act of holding and entering the envelope - a sort of cross between Christmas and sex.

Art is like therapy; what comes up is what comes up. It may be dark, but that's what comes up. You may want to keep some of it in a drawer but never judge it.

The telephone is a great knee-jerk machine, but if you really want to tell someone how you feel, you need the slowness of the letter. In a society where everything is fast, it's like going out in the country and looking up at the stars.

I had never read in public, never given an interview. I was doing it all and trying to produce the next book and raise three young kids and had another child on the way.