If The Culture Is So All Pervasive

Sometimes I Look Back And I Am Shocked. Everyday Of My Life I Have Prepared For Success, Worked For It, Waited For It, And You Don't Notice How The Days Pass Until Nearly A Lifetime Is Finished. Then It Hits You--the Thing You Have Been Waiting For Has Already Gone By. And It Was Going In The Other Direction. It's Like I've Been Waiting On The Wrong Side Of The Road For A Bus That Was Already Full." P. 265

I Guess There's A Sort Of Cycle With Writing Books. There's All The Researching And Then The Imagining And Writing - Which Is The Real Job - And Then There's Always A Period When The Book Comes Out And You Have To Lift Your Head And Venture Out.

Writing Is A Deeply Immersive Experience. When The Words Are Flying, The House Could Be Burgled And I Wouldn’t Notice. I Have A Low Boredom Threshold And I Like Intensity – Writing Is A Way Of Escaping The Quotidian.

Kids Are Naturally Inventive And Curious And Creative, But Most Adults Have Had That Beaten Out Of Them. Writing Is A Form Of Play; You Have To Get Rid Of All Those Internal Censors That We Adults Have, The Things That Say, 'don't Go There, That's Not Allowed.

I Started Writing 'brick Lane' When My Children Were Two Years And Five Months Old. We Were On Holiday In The North Of England When I Was Overtaken By A Compulsion To Start Writing.