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As a teacher at Princeton, I'm surrounded by people who work hard so I just make good use of my time. And I don't really think of it as work - writing a novel, in one sense, is a problem-solving exercise.

If you're a writer, you're always working.

When I'm writing, which is 8-9 months out of the year, I'm in a concerted writing pace, where I work 5 days a week for at least a few hours a day, maybe a little bit more. But I won't work for more than 2 hours at a time. I'll work for a couple hours and take a break.

I'm not the kind of writer that can write eight hours a day... I'm the kind of writer that the more time I have, the less efficient I am.

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

I think I'm a writer, and it's my job. People in other professions are expected to do their jobs all the time. Why shouldn't I?

I am a working person. I always work, study or do research for my novel. I even work on Sunday.

I like to believe that I don't think of myself as a writer. I am an amateur. Back when I was teaching, I wrote when I could. Weekends were good typewriter time. Now, it's whenever I feel there's something to be put on paper. I don't care what time it is, though I always write in the notebooks at night.

I'm a novelist, that's how I make my livelihood, and I concentrate on the novels.