'He slapped a silver-cover version of J. D. Salinger’s novel down in front of each one of us. ‘Read it,’ he said.'

He slapped a silver-cover version of J. D. Salinger’s novel down in front of each one of us. ‘Read it,’ he said, ‘all lesson, for homework, and the next lesson and homework, until you’ve finished it.’ Thirty-five minutes later, the change in me had begun.

'At some point, the Doom would fade enough for me to jump back into whatever I’d been trying to write before it began. But my characters were just words. '

At some point, the Doom would fade enough for me to jump back into whatever I’d been trying to write before it began. But my characters were just words. And my words: just other people’s, only clumsier, less necessary, more shameful.

'She made us choose a poem and learn it off by heart. It would be useful, she said, if we were ever bored and at a dinner party; we could recite in our head. '

She made us choose a poem and learn it off by heart. It would be useful, she said, if we were ever bored and at a dinner party; we could recite in our head. I couldn’t imagine ever being at a dinner party, but I can still recite ‘Ode to a Nightingale’.

'You don’t need to be gregarious, but you do need to be curious. As Seamus Heaney suggested, we should be vulnerable to delight. '

You don’t need to be gregarious, but you do need to be curious. As Seamus Heaney suggested, we should be vulnerable to delight. I find being alone essential, and I’m happy to stray along the border of loneliness, but it’s good to have a change.

'Summer sprinted on with face masks and hand washes, and centuries-old talk about the weather had shifted to Covid. '

As spring tore away from the calendar of seasons, summer sprinted on with face masks and hand washes, and the centuries-old talk about the weather shifted to the uncertainty of regulations about Covid. I started heading out earlier in the mornings.

'I have written at least four full-length novels that will never see the light of day. A couple have been roundly rejected by publishers.'

I have written at least four full-length novels that will never see the light of day. A couple have been roundly rejected by publishers, and I have not had the temerity to show the others to anyone for fear they might somehow slip past the gatekeepers.

'Having acquired an agent, you haven’t got it made: that even a top agent can send your book round and get a resounding No. '

No one tells you that, having acquired an agent, you haven’t got it made: that even a top agent from a well-established firm can send your book round all the publishers and get a resounding No. That even when you’ve rewritten, the answer is still No.

'People in books — they’re important. So, when I found a girl in a book who was like me, that makes me feel important. '

'I never thought I was important. People in books — they’re important. So, when I found a girl in a book who was like me, when I read about her, that makes me feel important. So when I get to the end, I just go straight back to the beginning again.’

'I could picture the scene clearly. Suddenly what I believed to be an exotic story contained a personal element.'

I could picture the scene clearly — wooden panelling on the walls, the newspaper held across the fireplace to momentarily stop the draught while lighting the coals. Suddenly what I believed to be an exotic story contained a personal element.

'Women are often expected to stick to one area of interest – often a ‘female-centric’ one – possibly because we’re not expected to be versatile.'

Women are often expected to stick to one area of interest – often a ‘female-centric’ one – possibly because we’re not expected to be versatile in the first place. We’re expected to continue doing the first thing we become known for.