I wrote in the cellar for a number of years. I needed a private space, and it had a furnace, so it was always warm.

I was quite satisfied with my creative life. I've always had reinforcement from a small but devoted readership.

I wanted to publish a book simply to be buried with it; that's all I wanted. I had no ambition beyond that.

I always loved to read, and I wanted to be part of the project of literature. My physical longevity is due to luck, and my literary longevity is due to my physical longevity.

The market town of Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire, was a popular 19th - century English spa. Its mineral springs were supposed to be good for you. This was before the invention of bran. In the 20th century, Cheltenham grew into an active municipality.

I know a lot of single people who are not miserable as society tells them they're supposed to be.