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I just sort of write the book I feel like writing given the emotional place I am in my life at the time.

I'm writing about emotions.

I have always used emotion as a writing tool. That goes back to me being on the stage.

Writing for me is definitely a form of ventilation - a way for me to cope and deal with emotions. I think it is for any writer.

As much as writing is an emotional experience, it is a business as well. Coming from a business background, I treat it as such.

I often start writing in order to excite an expansive emotion.

I think, in a written novel, the way in which you play with the readers' emotion or the way in which you engage the readers' emotions can be very indirect. You could come at it through irony or comedy, etcetera, and you could capture people's sympathies and feelings kind of by stealth if you like.

Emotional life is - alongside work - one of the great challenges of existence and is a theme that I keep returning to.

Generally, I think most of my writing tends to have some kind of magical element to it. That's the way I can access the emotional life of the character.

Writing is a solitary profession; you are really alone when you write. Then the emotions become well shaped and distinct. But their transition into words must be done deliberately and with rigid artistry.