I enjoy the freedom of the blank page.
The first job of a writer is to be honest.
I grew up in a place where everybody was a storyteller, but nobody wrote. It was that kind of Celtic, storytelling tradition: everybody would have a story at the pub or at parties, even at the clubs and raves.
There is a kind of mysticism to writing.
I feel like I've exhausted guys and male friendships.
I tend to read more nonfiction, really, because when I'm writing I don't like to read other fiction.
I'd always liked to read, but when I picked up books I wasn't getting the same kind of excitement from them that I was from going out clubbing. I wanted to get the same kind of feel.
Writing is about culture and should be about everything. That's what makes it what it is.
There's all this stuff that is happening in Edinburgh now, it's a sad attempt to create an Edinburgh society, similar to a London society, a highbrow literature celebrity society.
