Although I still occasionally paint and draw, my life has now been shaped by my writing.

There are people who want to be writers because they think writers are celebrated people in society. And they want the percs that go with all that.

The prizes have some credibility, of course. And they do good work for the writer and for the publisher, by winnowing one book out of the pack.

And of course, it's hard to produce a work at the end of those years of solitude, which may or may not be understood or appreciated.

And out of a desire essentially to imitate what I was reading, I began to write, like a clever monkey.

What I am finding now is that my audience is getting younger as I get older, which is a very good thing as you know - you don't want them to get older as you get older.

Through writing, through that process, they realize that they become more intelligent, and more honest and more imaginative than they can be in any other part of their life.

Storytelling is an ancient and honorable act. An essential role to play in the community or tribe. It's one that I embrace wholeheartedly and have been fortunate enough to be rewarded for.

It's hard to spend years at a time working in total solitude with no reality-check.