In the '50s you had to wear pink ribbons if you were a girl, and you were supposed to become a hairdresser or a secretary. I couldn't stomach it. Later on, when I fell in love with my husband and had children, that's when my mother's earthiness or sense of femaleness kicked in.

We all make choices. Believe me, I would like to write the hit of the world. It's not like I have any desire to be in the shadows. My vision isn't marketing. Some people want to sell 6 million albums. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just not what I do. I'd rather look at a piece of work and say it's great rather than it's successful.

I reflected on the fact that no matter how good I aspired to be, I was never going to achieve perfection

I was so unhealthy as a child, and at least three or four times my parents were told to get ready, that I would not make it.

Obviously, I'm not homeless. I'm not an old alcoholic. I'm not jumping trains. I just like to live in a certain way.

I wrote every day. I don't think I could have written Just Kids had I not spent all of the 80s developing my craft as a writer.

Committing great work does not necessarily feed you.