I love getting into the basement of a courthouse, and all the dusty records - all that stuff makes me really happy.

I tend to be a very logical, practical person.

I never have the feeling that I actually know what I'm doing or anything that I'm writing is any good.

I would not give up a lot of what I know about my heritage. I would not give up knowing where I came from, the good parts and the bad parts.

I personally love books that make me think, so I naturally gravitate toward writing a book like that, one that's going to make someone think and make me think.

I think Scotland is probably my spiritual home and I love it there very, very much.

It occurred to me at some point that what really links us to the past is memory, and there's so much we've forgotten.