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" I usually listen to the same thing over and over again: Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major. And Leonard Cohen. "

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" Lack of confidence - every time I start a new piece of work, it seems I have to spend a long while under the duvet thinking I can't do it. "

" I took my sight and mobility for granted. "

" I always wanted to be Jo in 'Little Women.' She's a bit reckless and feckless, always getting into trouble like me. But I'm probably more like Madame Bovary. "

" Live with all of your senses. "

" The DSS offices are not given enough funding, their staff are poorly paid and are driven to distraction by the amount of work they have to do. There is frequent turnover of staff. Morale is extremely low. Working with desperate people all day is very dispiriting; their unhappiness rubs off on you. "

" I'd love a day devoid of responsibilities. I've often thought about going to a hotel just to have a day away from everything. "

" I am a very independent person, and I, you know, I maintain that independence, but, you know, certain things - I mean, it takes, you know, it's just much easier for other people if other people can help you every now and again. "

" I became an insomniac, really, hardly slept at all, didn't even try to. And it's carried on. I hate to say I only need as much sleep as Mrs. Thatcher, but I can cope really well on five hours. "

" In the playground, I always made people laugh; I used to charge them three pence for an impression of a teacher. It kept me in toffees. "

" I prefer to keep my secrets to myself, to the grave... and beyond! "

" I take life very seriously. I can laugh at it, because what else can you do? But it's a hard daily battle. "

" I've always been fascinated by totalitarian regimes. I'm not an admirer of them. "

" Yes - I am usually overweight. I have had to be interested in diet because of being diabetic for 30 years and having kidney failure. "

" I am surrounded by counselors. My sister is a counselor. My daughter is training to be a counselor. A lot of my friends are counselors. "

" Yes, I hate it when people call me a 'national treasure'. It takes away your bite and makes you feel like a harmless old golden Labrador. "

" Sometimes I rant, in a comical way, about how the gods give with one hand and take with the other. "

" I married two weeks after my 18th birthday, far too young, and by the time I was 23 I was a single mother of three small children, Sean, Daniel and Victoria, living in a prefab house. "

" I'm spectacularly disorganised. I wrote my latest book in seven different notebooks scattered throughout my house. "

" When all my kids were at home, I used to write from midnight onwards. "

" I have a slight addiction to Diet Coke, and, of course, I absolutely shouldn't touch it because it makes the kidneys work really hard. "

" People down on their luck deserve the best: beautiful surroundings and well-paid professional staff to help them out of their difficulties. Why not train thousands more social workers and let them sit in on claimants' interviews? "

" My dark secrets are life threatening. Pockets of unhappiness set in aspic that build and build. I have this primitive feeling that if something good happens, it is going to be followed by something bad. There is always a price to pay. "

" I always have this image of a woman running across a desert carrying children, trying to find water and food, not knowing when they'll get that. And her feet are slashed up from the dry, hard earth... Even when I'm uncomfortable, sometimes in pain, or just cold... I think, 'Thank God for what I've got.' "

" I think we take it for granted that if you are with your husband after 30 years, then he is the love of your life. "

" Watching 'The Jeremy Kyle Show' is my guilty pleasure. "

" In the early days, it was, you know, I used to weep while I was writing. I used to grab at any kind of anything, any hint, any tip of how to make it easy. "

" Most social problems could be helped or prevented if people had more money and practical advice. "

" I am from the working class. I am now what I was then. No amount of balsamic vinegar and Prada handbags could make me forget what it was like to be poor. "

" My cream and black Aga. It is the heart of the house, and people congregate around it. "

" I always write back to people who are kind enough to write to me. Actually, I don't write - I recline on my red velvet sofa with my feet on the coffee table and dictate the letters to my eldest son. "