It's not in good taste to have talking ghosts in a grown-up novel.

The belief that consciousness extends beyond death is surely to put more belief in the permanence of self, not less. That seems to me a comfort that you're allowing yourself.

You must live life with the full knowledge that your actions will remain. We are creatures of consequence.

English writing tends to fall into two categories - the big, baggy epic novel or the fairly controlled, tidy novel. For a long time, I was a fan of the big, baggy novel, but there's definitely an advantage to having a little bit more control.

Surely there is something to be said for drawing a circle around our attention and remaining within that circle. But how large should this circle be?

The idea that motherhood is inherently somehow a threat to creativity is just absurd.

Any artist who aligns themselves with a politician is making a category error because what politicians do is not on a human scale, it is on a geopolitical scale.