But I knew that, both in fairyland and the real world, too, wishes were a slipperier things.

In certain ways, we, many of us, stopped paying attention to the world. I have to think we would have moved on the whole climate issue in a different way if we'd been paying better attention.

Lots of people go mad in January. Not as many as in May, of course. Nor June. But January is your third most common month for madness.

Language does this to our memories—simplifies, solidifies, codifies, mummifies. An oft-told story is like a photograph in a family album; eventually, it replaces the moment it was meant to capture.

I have always been a generous and enthusiastic reader.

I was pretty happy with how my career had gone, mainly because of the enormous freedom I've had to write what I've wanted to write. I had a very clear picture of who I was as a writer.