My mum wouldn't have had any time for fantasy stuff; she's more practical.

You know yourself, once you've had the excitement of riding thoroughbreds, it's not very interesting riding anything else. But I still love horses; I just don't have one any more.

My mum always liked poetry, and she had pictures on the wall, so there was this visual stuff around.

Writers want publicity all the time, and they are always nagging their agents and publishers to give them more publicity, but, when you get it, it's kind of soul-destroying.

Working in Birmingham for the first time was the best thing, especially as it was round the corner from my mum's house in Harborne!

I had thought about becoming a civil rights lawyer, but I gave it up.