As I get older, I use less jewelry - necklace or earrings each morning, not both; my clothes are getting more basic - fewer colours and simpler cuts; and my make-up is stripped back to basics.

Yes, well, life is a folly. If you live long enough, nothing is surprising.

I have consistently loved books that I've read when I've been sick in bed.

Jane Austen easily used half a page describing someone else's eyes; she would not appreciate summarizing her reading tastes in ten titles.

I try to write 1,000 words a day - about three pages. When I reach 1,000 words I feel good. Less than that: a failure. More than that: tired.

Although I always said that I wanted to be a writer from childhood, I hadn't actually done much about it until I came to London.

I find that when I come out of the library I'm in what I call the library bliss of being totally taken away from the distractions of life.