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I went freelance in 1996 and my children are now teenagers and it seemed right.

I opted for a freelance writing career. I was lucky enough to have the means to do it.

I first thought about becoming a writer after the age of 30, which is rather late, I'd say. In my 20s, I wasn't especially good at anything, and I didn't have a lot of experiences. I was just a young woman without a good job.

My dad is a bank president and my mom was an accountant and they didn't think that seeking the life of a freelance writer was very practical, you see. Of course, I was just as determined to do it.

I was freelancing for years in Cork and around. I also wrote freelance pieces for 'The Irish Times.'

When I was writing my first two books I was also freelancing and teaching and doing other odd jobs.

I started as kind of an outsider - freelancer working from home, building contacts from the ground up etc. - so I didn't have too many relationships holding me back.

I spent 20 years of my career primarily being a writer for hire.

I didn't do a masters in creative writing until I was 26, which is quite old, and then I found myself in New York and I needed money, so I started working full time as an editor.

At the very beginning, I was a page at Letterman, and I freelanced for any place that would let me write any word. I wanted to do this so badly. Then when I got a tiny bit of success, I was petrified that I was going to lose it.