Having your second child, in case you were wondering, is a lot harder than having your first, except for those people who find it easier. I'm afraid I don't have the latest figures to confirm this.

That's writing for you: when you make space for passion, it doesn't turn up.

To become a mother is to learn a whole language - to relearn it, perhaps, as it was the tongue to which we were born - and hence gain entrance to a forgotten world of comprehension.

There are certain types of slightly hysterical human characters who, rather than creating, walk around with a sense of their own potential - it's as if they themselves were art objects. They feel as if their lives are written narratives, or pieces of music.

I absolutely don't dislike children - I would choose their company over adult company any time.

I think a lot of artists no longer want to participate in or be associated with narrative because of its corruptedness in contemporary culture.

The British have always made terrible parents.