"Turning 50 can be difficult, sometimes dangerous, for women. The danger is in that blip that can come from the fact that you become invisible, and if you're not careful and don't embrace that, it can trip you up and you lose confidence."

"I have turned away from the thought of writing fiction in the past through what I suppose is, actually, fear. The direct, raw invitation for the reader to come in and explore my imagination is fairly scary for me so I have busied myself with so much else."

"I have had the unfortunate experience of having someone write an unauthorised biography of me. Half of it is lies and the other half is badly written. My feeling is that if I'm going to write my life story, I ought to have my life first."

"....get a move on, pal, life goes on happening while you're hiding...."

"I am a rubbish flirt."

"I do think you are supposed to go through wars with your child because otherwise the tearing apart that has to happen when they go off to lead their own life would be unbearable."

"I've chosen to stay in a jolly place for most of my life, and that is a lot of who I am."

"I don't know what the future holds, but I have to be confident about it. It's just the way I am."

"I love it when somebody makes me laugh - it's what attracts me to people."

"That's the weird thing about not being married - you can't get regular kissing; you can't be guaranteed of it, and that's a great shame."

"It was my father who taught me to value myself. He told me that I was uncommonly beautiful and that I was the most precious thing in his life."

"I'm not a big drinking person and hardly ever have alcohol. Perhaps it's not sweet enough for my sweet tooth."

"I've never disliked myself, and my weight has had nothing to do with my self-esteem."

"For me, whatever age or size I've been, I have rather liked myself. The shell is not the thing at all."

"Other than my memory being a bit woolly and my knees being a bit creaky, I don't really think there's anything I can't do."

"Why would I worry about getting older - what's to moan about?"

"Why would I worry about getting older - what's to moan about?"

"My best friend is the most important girl, outside of family, to me. I met her when I went to college and we bonded immediately. I'd do anything for her at any time. We phone each other every day."

"I think of myself now as a writer, although I wouldn't go as far as to say 'novelist' because that sounds like a Victorian person."

"I'm constantly astounded by how amazing women are. And as we go through all these different stages of life as long as you share them with others and say, 'Well, this is bloody weird', you can get through everything."

"My daughter couldn't care less about me being famous. She finds it revolting and, like a lot of teenagers, is virtually allergic to me. That started at 12 and hasn't gone anywhere yet."

"I'll always be a fat girl and I am happy with that."

"When I wrote 'Dear Fatty,' I realised that sitting and writing alone is an absolute joy."

"We have to do a film parody for Comic Relief. We can't decide which film to parody at the moment. Any ideas welcome, but not Spiderman owing to costume being too tight."