I've always thought it was important not to attach too much superstition to the space where you're writing, because once you get into the mindset that you can only do it a certain way in a certain place, your creativity can get blocked.

I don't eat when I'm working. If I start to fridge-raid, I'm in trouble.

When I'm writing, I spend all my time in The Grocer on Elgin buying ready-made meals; I think they are the only reason my husband and kids haven't left me.

I remember people saying: 'You look funny, your hair is so black, you have a flat nose,' but I didn't think of it being racism, and I still don't. But there was a sense of difference, of being an outsider.

I've learned enough times in life that saying something is completely different than acting upon it.

I have a calling in my soul, if you like, to try to make my life in some way worthwhile. What is the value of my existence?

Woe to the man whose heart has not learned while young to hope, to love - and to put its trust in life.

A bad or mediocre meal is more than just an unpleasant taste, it is an unnecessary negation of one of life's pleasures - a wasted chance to refine our palates, learn about the world, and share a rewarding experience.