Sadie Jones

“We feel the pull of nature very strongly, relating - even unknowingly - feeling in ourselves to bulbs being stirred in frozen ground, or to the branches of dead trees. Perhaps this indivisibility from nature is an important thing to recognize as we go about our business in the world.”

“I think that we are all much closer to our childhood selves than we often think, so when we read about childhood, it can surprise us how immediate or moving it is, when perhaps those feelings are just there, waiting to be accessed all the time.”

“When I was a child, I wanted to raise horses in Wyoming or be a cabin boy on a pirate ship.”

“In England, rain was thin and cold, and made you hunch up inside your coat, walking home from the bus stop. In Jamaica, it was wide and thick and invited you to step into it, and see how wet you could get, and be thrilled that it was warmer than the sea and warmer than your skin; it was abandon.”

“Art is inspiring. Walking into a gallery, or when the lights go up on a stage; that thrill of getting something that has nothing to do with acquisition.”

“My favourite author as a child and teenager, and who I still re-read now, is K. M. Peyton. She writes very truthfully; sometimes I'm not sure if I've actually done things or just experienced them in her books.”

“I'm never happy with what I've written. You imagine, before you start, there's a cathedral, and the moment it starts on the page, it's a garden shed. And then you just try to make it the best shed you can.”

“There was a sudden stillness like the gap between ticks on a clock, but the next tick never coming.”

“I don't consciously use my own life or experience at all.”

“My father was a screenwriter, but he was also a novelist.”

“Our minds and memories are crowded with the common experience of nature.”

“I've always thought it was important not to attach too much superstition to the space where you're writing, because once you get into the mindset that you can only do it a certain way in a certain place, your creativity can get blocked.”

“I have a study now - I used not to. I also love working in cafes; ignoring noise is good for concentration.”

“You wouldn't know it, but I'm no good at recognising people; I have face blindness.”

“Oh, I always think everyone feels left out.”

“I don't get distracted until the weight of other things left undone finally tips the balance; my mind is flooded with calls, bills, supermarkets, letters, and I have to stop and sort things out.”

“I don't eat when I'm working. If I start to fridge-raid, I'm in trouble.”

“I think if you write about human relationships, you're always exploring the psyche and the soul. I don't separate certain - perhaps more extreme - things that people do from others.”

“Horses know how to be loyal but still keep their distance.”

“I think very visually, and I just never thought I had a novel in me.”