I tend to plan as I write. And I want to leave myself open and the character open to keep on going until it seems to be the time to stop.

If you're from Dublin, for example, chances are you live with your family, if you're lucky enough to, right up to the mid-20s. And most of the people I know, when they finally sort of set off on their own, they don't stray all that far.

My parents were sixty years married.

It's hard for me to measure them, or to assess my books because I'm so close to them.

No matter how close to personal experience a story might be, inevitably you are going to get to a part that isn't yours and, actually, whether it happened or not becomes irrelevant. It is all about choosing the right words.

I tend to plan as I write. And I want to leave myself open and the character open to keep on going until it seems to be the time to stop.

Good ideas are often murdered by better ones.