Insights don't usually arrive at my desk, but go into notebooks when I'm on the move. Or half-asleep.

But an experienced reader is also a self-aware and critical reader. I can't remember ever reading a story without judging it.

History is always changing behind us, and the past changes a little every time we retell it.

In my 20s I was in constant pain from undiagnosed endometriosis. With no prospect of a cure, I decided I needed a career - writing - that could accommodate being ill.

If an employee told you he had the flu, you'd send him home. If an employee told you he was feeling anxious, you'd probably tell him to get back to work. But the emotion is just as contagious as a flu virus.

Being asked by Oprah Winfrey to be on her show and do her eyebrows in 2006 - to me, that was like getting an Oscar. It was a stamp of approval from a woman that is incredible. It propelled my career to a different level.

I've spent my whole literary career blurring boundaries between genres and categories.

Let me make something clear: There are very few things Hollywood is right about. This is a very corrupt, elitist industry that breeds favoritism and fails people up the career ladder.