Quote

I never feel lonely if I've got a book - they're like old friends. Even if you're not reading them over and over again, you know they are there. And they're part of your history. They sort of tell a story about your journey through life.

Being lonely is not a bad thing for a writer.

When people are lonely they stoop to any companionship.

I really appreciate what it takes to create a book. I understand the loneliness that it involves and the excitement and the vulnerability: I especially identify with that.

Booksellers are the most valuable destination for the lonely, given the numbers of books that were written because authors couldn't find anyone to talk to.

It's all about people. It's about networking and being nice to people and not burning any bridges. Your book is going to impress, but in the end it is people that are going to hire you.

Writing a book is a very lonely business. You are totally cut off from the rest of the world, submerged in your obsessions and memories.

All I want is for people, when they read my books, to feel companioned, to feel they're not alone in the world.

If you are lonely when you're alone, you are in bad company.

If you write fiction, you're by yourself. There are certain advantages to that in that you don't have to explain anything to anybody. But when you get in with others who share the loneliness of the whole enterprise, you're not lonely anymore.