A book is a story, even if it's non-fiction, and once I've read it, I have the story with me inside my head always.

I've found myself moved by letters and diaries in archives as well as trashy, summer blockbusters. It's possible to make a connection with any kind of writing - as long as the writing is good.

Very often the characters people respond to best have little parts of reality they can relate to.

We can learn so much looking outside our core field of expertise.

At length, when I considered it, I realized that the best of my actions were small things. Picking flowers and cooking food for my mother when she had been unwell, spending an afternoon with the children, sending money to my sister or kissing Henry's tiny head as he slept in the nursery before I left. I thought of every detail and afterwards I felt better. Hellfire and brimstone have never appealed to me and I admit I become easily confused thinking of right and wrong. But I do understand kindness.

Writers need each other.

Scotland just isn't terribly Tory.