You could say, in a vulgar Freudian way, that I am the unhappy child who escapes into books. Even as a child, I was most happy being alone. This has not changed.

Can anyone understand how it is to have lived in the White House and then, suddenly, to be living alone as the President's widow?

I'm very shy really. I spend a lot of time in my room alone reading or writing or watching television.

I have no time for those who say there is no way Scotland could go it alone. I know first-hand the contribution Scotland and Scots make to Britain's success - so for me there's no question about whether Scotland could be an independent nation.

Comics, for me, is being able to sing alone in the shower. I find it freeing. You just pick up a pen and get to it.