I look about my house and see there are lots of lovely things in it, but I constantly buy more.

People with big ideas worry. They lie awake at night and fret as they try to climb up the social or financial ladder. They probably feel proud of themselves for what they've achieved, but I'm proud of the fact that I've done very little - and hence have little to worry about - and I've still got somewhere.

I think that not being proactive is a good thing. I like life to unfold on its own.

I married someone I didn't love. I was too polite to say no.

My publishers find me really challenging, as a lot of the time, I don't even know what I'm going to be writing about until I sit down to do it.

The only way you can write about a happy family in a drama is to make them unhappy.

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.

In 1995, I was 27, and I completely got caught up in Blur and Oasis and the fashion of the time.

I like the fact that my husband and I have been together for a long time and have a warm and colourful history together.

Flowers would be wasted on me. I don't like valentines. I don't need gifts. I'm a pragmatic romantic.