I would never say that I'm not going to do something. I like not being limited.

I think the past is something I have spent a lot of time thinking about, not only what is different about the past but what's the same, and what links us to the past.

I'll tell you what I was most surprised to discover about my writing process, and that is that I never know what I'm doing.

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

I'm a history person, and I love the groundedness of that, of being able to go, "Yes! People acted like that."

I do think a lot about the past.

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