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If you wish to be a writer, write.

Writing is my therapy. In addition to my real therapy. God knows where I'd be without it. I'd probably still be at my last job, working in HR at a religious organization. I was horribly miscast.

I've always liked the idea that writing is a form of travel. And I started my writing career as a mystery novelist for adults.

I had to live this long, have the experiences I've had, to create what I do. I knew I wanted to write for years, but I had to be ready so I wouldn't blow it. The move to Maine was the final step.

I love writing on trains. The joy of being a writer is it's all in your head; you don't need materials apart from the laptop. It's like taking your work home with you, so you can feel grounded in your own insane writerly realities wherever you are.

You have to first be a writer and somebody who loves to write. If I couldn't travel, I would still write.

Perhaps it would be better not to be a writer, but if you must, then write.

When I wrote 'The Girl on the Train,' nobody knew who I was, and that's quite a comfortable position to be writing in.

I wanted to be a literary writer, so I wrote story after story and sent them to 'The New Yorker.'

Good writing will bring you to places you don't even expect sometimes.