"The propensity to do good things is a choice."

"I had a kind of Dickensian childhood."

"I'm not cynical about marriage or romance. I enjoyed being married. And although being single was fun for a while, there was always the risk of dating someone who'd owned a lunch box with my picture on it."

"My idea of what's good and bad and right and wrong is maybe greyer than most, and I like writing about that."

"I'm not a big fan of religion for that reason. But I am a true believer in God, and I have great faith, and I think that a spiritual connection with something is a really important part of our experience. That doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the church."