I like borrowing. I write like a collage artist, who searches for things to apply to the canvass. I often re-interpret the meaning of the things I borrow. I allow myself the freedom of ‘reading between the lines and I allow my chapters to rise up spontaneously. I edit continuously, making editorial leaps and wild suppositions.

Books are composite constructions, continually translating and expanding themselves. I don’t make demands on the text or the subject to become something. I try to get close to them with my eyes closed. I respect the primary material that I use and hope I’m faithful to the grace of the original. I love learning from the felicities of other writers.

I don’t predict a book; I discover it. Stories are a multi-layered medley of tales, a quilt of many different materials that work together. Speed, chance and play keep my preconceptions at bay, allowing the narrative to rise up in an unpredictable fashion. It’s an exercise in acceptance; finding things and joining them together before judgement arises.