At one time I used to keep notebooks with outlines for stories. But I found doing this somehow deadened the idea in my imagination. If the notion is good enough, if it truly belongs to you, then you can't forget it-it will haunt you till it's written.

Really being friends is the most important part, I think, of any relationship.

I suppose you think I'm very brazen. Or très fou. Or something.' Not at all.' She seemed disappointed. 'Yes, you do. Everybody does. I don't mind. It's useful.

When I am writing, I try to do it five hours a day but I spend about two of those just fooling around.

I don't mean I'd mind being rich and famous. That's very much on my schedule and someday I'll try to get around to it.

He loved her, he loved her, and until he'd loved her she had never minded being alone.

Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.