Schools don't really allow failure and yet it's a valid part of any endeavour, not just writing.

When I started writing full time I had not long stopped being a teacher and when at last I had a full day to write, I would put music on and wonder to myself - am I allowed to do this? Then I thought: 'I am control of this and no one is telling me what I can do.'

I had to make sure I kept an eye on the real world.

I knew all the books in the house. I knew their shapes and smells. I knew what pages would open if I held them with the spine on the ground and let the sides drop. I knew all the books but I couldn’t remember the name of the one on my head.

When I’m writing I just think there’s only the page and me and nobody else.

If you are a writer you’re at home, which means you’re out of touch. You have to make excuses to get out there and look at how the world is changing.

Head in the book. Nose sliding down the valley between the pages.

She’s a pot-of-tea-before-I-say-boo-to-you woman. There’s always a pile of warm teabags in the sink when I come down, like what a horse would leave behind.

They were joking, but it was a serious conversation. They were often like that, Mary and her granny, when they were alone together.

It’s hard for me to measure them, or to assess my books because I’m so close to them.