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I had thought of writing, actually, and that later on I'd be a novelist.

When I began to write seriously, 40 years ago now, my chosen form was the novel.

Getting to the point where I was ready to write a book has been about a 20-year journey of being, really honestly, too afraid to try - which I think is pretty common for people who are trying to write a large piece of fiction.

I set out to write a screenplay but, since my early 20s, had dreamed of writing a novel.

I never know as a writer when I set out into a novel where it's going to take me.

Oh you know, I've been writing a novel.

This sounds like a cliche, but I always wanted to write. After college, I did some writing and realized very quickly that it's hard to make a living as a writer. At that point, I was more interested in fiction writing.

I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do ever - was write novels.