A Drinker Does Not Exist.

For 10 Or 11 Years, I Had My Kids, I Wrote Four Or Five Books, And I Was Working All The Damn Time.

I'm Very Keenly Aware That There Aren't Very Many Women Writing Literary Fiction In Ireland And So That Gives Me A Sense That What I Say Matters, In Some Small Way.

Here We Go Again. Always A Few Drinks, But Sometimes Even Sober, We Play The Unhappiness Game; Endlessly Round And Round. Ding Dong. Tighter And Tighter. On And On. Push Me Pull You. Come Here And I'll Tell You How Much I Hate You. Hang On A Minute While I Leave You. All The While We Know We Are Missing The Point, Whatever The Point Used To Be.

I've Heard People, Usually Writers, Say That No One Wrote A Great Book After Winning The Booker, But I Honestly Did Not Feel Any Big Pressure. The Gathering Did Hang Over Me In That It Was Darker Than I Thought At The Time.

I Think It’s Very Important To Write A Demythologized Woman Character. My Characters Are Flawed. They Are No Better Than They Should Be.