It seems to me that women are freed from their responsibilities only when they are merry widows or eccentric old spinsters.

It seems to me that women are freed from their responsibilities only when they are merry widows or eccentric old spinsters.

As a reader I like both great characterization and fast moving plots. The challenge is to balance the both and not compromise one for the other.

I was very fierce and very driven at eighteen. But my basic philosophy I think has stayed the same, I'm still an atheist, I still believe strongly in the power of free will (despite the mysticism in my prose). I don't believe in the notion of a pre-ordained destiny, and I think because of the sudden death of my father at sixteen I learnt then that it is essential to live life to the fullest as it could be snatched away at any second.

No, what Great Aunt Winifred was suffering from was the persecution every happily single woman suffers: the predictable social condemnation of her independence and childlessness. Dorothy reminded herself of what she'd learned during a university course on feminist history (with a strong Marxist slant): spinsters are a threat to patriarchy.

The novelist is more a marathon runner than long-distance runner and the kind of courage it takes working in such isolation cannot be underestimated. I really respect my fellow writers on this front.

Love wasn't a piece of music you could play over and over again with different interpretations. It actually needed to be improvised as you went along.