That said, I've never thought the fact that I'm a woman was important to my work.

I like to write about things that are extreme in some form. I like to write about something I feel I have to write about.

I still consider myself a feminist.

I was always inventing characters and making up stories.

How weird it was to drive streets I knew so well. What a different perspective.

When I was pregnant, I felt filled with life, and I felt really happy. I ate well, and I slept well. I felt much more useful than I'd ever felt before.

So you eat, you sleep, and then this wonderful child comes out, but you don't feel like you have any control over that process, over her, over her character and who she is.