I try to get going early, on the assumption that the way you begin your day is the way you continue. But certain books only want to be written at night, so there's no hard rule where work is concerned.

Writing is not like acting, where you can pull these little stunts that create a particular effect. Words are all it is about, and the way you use words has to be individual and particular to you.

I think the impulse took shape in early childhood when I was very ill with lymphoma for a number of years. I spent a lot of time in hospitals and sick-rooms, being read to by various relatives, and I learned to associate books with love and attention.

Traveling is one of few zones of experience where you are not directly plugged into the world around you. You're not part of the society you're passing through.

I don't like outlining, because books are organic things. Sometimes a book doesn't want to be written in a certain way.

If you continue to work hard, let that be the fuel to your fire.