I hate stereotypes and I hate cliche.

One minute I was playing chess and doing maths all the time, the next I had been rerouted into more 'normal' girls' activities: reading, writing stories and worrying about my clothes.

Everything I know I imagine everyone else knows as well. And then everything that everyone else knows I imagine they know on top of what I know, so I'm constantly anxious about what everyone else knows.

My novels are high concept. I guess big ideas interest me more than, say, the minutiae of domestic life.

I'm a great believer in gathering together all your obsessions and seeing if you can make a novel out of them.

Some writers, notably Anton Chekov, argue that all characters must be admirable, because once we've looked at anyone deeply enough and understood their motivation we must identify with them rather than judge them.

Living for ever would be like marrying yourself, with no possibility of a divorce.