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In retrospect, it seems like everything in my life led to me becoming a writer. I just didn't realise it at the time.

I think I became a writer because I didn't know of anything else to do. Maybe some incident from my childhood influenced me.

I can't say that I ever actually decided to become a writer. It kind of snuck up on me.

At one point, I had a story accepted at the 'New Yorker,' which sent off weird bells in people when I told them - 'Oh,' they thought, 'now you are a writer' - where I really had been for the last 30-odd years.

My early life had a lot to do with my origins as a writer, but I didn't get into doing any writing at all until I was about 35 years old.

I wasn't always a novelist. I began my writing career as a journalist, working on an afternoon newspaper in Sydney, Australia, doing the crime beat and court reporting. Having grown up in a small country town, I felt as though I had nothing to write about.

I grew up in the suburbs among highly educated people, in a house crammed with books. It was a culture rich in ideas, stimulation, entertainment, and mental activity, all helpful to the nurture of an imaginative child who wanted from an early age to be a writer.

I have a curious background for someone who turns out to be a writer.

I don't know if I had ever found my place in the world until I fully committed to being a writer.

I cannot recall any moment of clarity about becoming a writer. I always liked to read. That's what did it.