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The good thing about writing a novel is that you're creating an imaginary world and can take a break when you need to.

I think because I try to keep things as real as I can, or I try to start from a place of reality, I almost don't have the imagination to write a book that's not set where I am.

I did go there later, but I hadn't been there before I wrote the book. Sometimes I feel like the imagined can feel more real than the real?

I quickly realised that it is difficult to get started when writing a novel. You have this dream of what you want to create, but it is like walking around a swimming pool and hesitating to jump in because the water is too cold.

To be a writer, you need to like spending a lot of time by yourself in the company of imaginary people.

You're on your own with the book. And while you are writing fiction, you're spending all this time with people who don't actually exist, which is just madness.

My mind has become somewhat like a book. What I mean by that is that when I look at the world, I see it as a story.

There isn't an aspect of book creation I don't enjoy, and there has always been a book in my life to dream about or work on.

A work of fiction is conceived very much the same way as a dream occurs in the mind of a sleeper.

I think most writers will say that at the start of each book they think, 'I'm not sure I can do this.' But eventually, you reach a magical point where the story suddenly becomes real to you, and you become totally invested in it.