I fear dying in the middle of a book. It would be so annoying to write 80,000 words and not get to the end. I'm phobic about it. So when I'm writing a book I leave messages all over the house for people to know how the story ends, and then someone can finish it for me.

I had a fear of becoming anything, a fear of becoming a specialist. I might have become a doctor, but if you become a doctor, that's your specialty in life and you are defined by it. One of the attractions of being a writer is that you're never a specialist. Your field is entirely open your field is the entire human condition.

Loneliness is, I think, people's biggest fear, whether they are conscious of it or not.

When I was younger I used to pick things just to face the fear.

I'll think, If this is his first punch, how are the others gonna feel? That's the only fear I have for myself.