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.

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.

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.

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.

Younger women tend to be busier, wearing more layers and more make-up. I don't know if it's because older women are more confident, or just that we don't care any more. But that pared-down approach is the same with the sentences I write; I take out adjectives and adverbs and keep the description to a minimum.

Normally book ideas come to me in a moment.

Don't write about what you know - write about what you're interested in. Don't write about yourself - you aren't as interesting as you think.