I was brought up in the same house I was born in, and I lived there until I left home as an adult. I also went to a Catholic school, which was full of Irish girls whose parents never split up, so everyone I knew had these big family set-ups.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
I don't really get into a writing routine until March or April, when I'll write a few hundred words a day, often in a cafe in the morning after the school run.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
I must always, always have a box of Extra chewing gum in my bag because I have developed a terrible cheek-chewing compulsion. It's not only uncomfortable, but I look really weird when I'm doing it, and chewing gum is the only way I can stop myself.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
People say 'chick lit,' and what they mean is 'crap.' And so even though you might sell 100,000 copies of a book, you're never going to win a prize. These are books that people don't just read, they devour them - they stay up into the early hours because they want to devour them.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
I look about my house and see there are lots of lovely things in it, but I constantly buy more.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
My mother's childhood was complex, disjointed, and disturbing. As children, we would gather round and ask her to tell us again and again The Story of Her Childhood. It was Grimmsian, Andersenesque: a classic fairy tale replete with goodies and baddies.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
If you feel that your father was lacking as a husband, it affects your own choice of man.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
Flowers would be wasted on me. I don't like valentines. I don't need gifts. I'm a pragmatic romantic.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
All my main characters have got bits of me, bits of my family, bits of my friends.
