I Don't Want To Get Hung Up

You Know How If You're Born In A Certain Situation You Always Expect Your Life To Run On A Steady Trajectory? I've Never Really Had A Sense Of That. I Assume That Life Is Going To Go Up And Down.

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 Wish I Got A Lie-in On Saturday Mornings But I Never Do.

I Was Always An Outsider, Always Standing Outside, Observing And Trying To Figure Things Out. Which Is Exactly What You Need To Do As A Writer, I Suppose.

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.