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Being a writer can be isolating. It's good to be among readers and booksellers.

I think it's a very bad idea for someone to start writing for a readership.

It's not like being a writer is a very lucrative career, but you know, you just know when you've found what you're really meant to do.

I'd always loved to read - and come from a family of readers - but I never thought about writing as a career.

Being a novelist is hard for anyone - male or female. You don't get to quit your day job.

Being a professional writer is not an easy way to make a living.

A writer can't afford to just focus on writing and leave marketing aside in today's competitive market.

Being a writer is a poverty trap. I mean, it's a terrible profession.

I think people ease into this careerist professionalism, so if you're a writer it's your job to manufacture books as opposed to writing them and to go to festivals and spend your life emotionally invested in reviews or the awards. You have to shrink your universe in a way. To me, it's the opposite.

It's never really easy to be successful as a writer when you're trying to write literary fiction. You've already limited your readership limited by that choice.