I think it's very important to keep being frightened - if you're not frightening yourself, you should take a break. You need to keep experimenting. You also need to take time - that's how you do good stuff - layering and depth of knowledge.

We all have to embrace the idea not to be worried about there being other women in the room. Gay men work with such solidarity.

Every work coming from the creator is about getting the demons out, and each character in those stories had a different personal crisis to get through.

I'm fascinated by what makes up a self, how one becomes a self, how much is it an answer to others and how much is it an essence of self. We learn how to be people from other people. Then you think - what's personal freedom? Is self-creation possible? This book is dedicated to a friend of mine who really did re-create herself. I didn't do that - I stayed in the circus and am a circus performer like my parents were. I did what I was raised to do - I'm glad I did but I'm fascinated by the people who managed to do something else. I was always very curious about other people.

I would have started writing a lot earlier if I hadn't been [Arthur Miller's daughter].

Looking at paintings was a huge part of finding my way into the lush world of the 18th century.

Deirdre Maddon has an extraordinary, almost celestial way of telling a story. There are so many great writers now - although I also want to go back and read all of Dickens again.