Do be kind to yourself. Fill pages as quickly as possible; double space, or write on every second line. Regard every new page as a small triumph. Until you get to page 50. Then calm down, and start worrying about the quality. Do feel anxiety - it's the job.

I like naming characters.

Some of the people who look the most normal are probably the maddest people trying to look normal.

My parents were sixty years married.

I do enjoy Gothic fiction or books about zombies if they are well written and I like vampires.

Sometimes adults seem as though they have cut a chord from being a child.

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.