GENRES
Maeve Binchy, author of The Return Journey, answers our questions
What's the first book you remember reading?
The first book I read was Winnie the Pooh. My father used to read it to me and I used to keep asking, "Where was I?", so he told me I had a house in the Hundred Acre Wood and I believed it.
Where do you live? And why?
I live in Dalkey, County Dublin, where I grew up. It's a suburb but feels more like a village. It has everything you'd need, near the sea, beside the little train into Dublin city, great restaurants, bookshop, pubs and very nice people including my own sisters and brother.
What's the greatest influence on your writing?
The biggest influence on my writing books was the fact that I had worked in a newspaper for so long. In a daily paper, you learn to write very quickly; there is no time to sit and brood about what you are going to say.
Where do you write?
We have a lovely sunny upstairs room in our house up a spiral staircase and there you find everything – laptops, photocopiers, stationery supplies, dictionaries. No excuse: you have to sit down and write.
Typewriter, word processor or pen?
I use a Packard Bell laptop. I have no idea what half the functions are and I print out after every three pages in case I lose it. I still don't believe it's written unless I see it on a page in front of me.
Name your favourite literary hero and villain.
Favourite literary hero is Leopold Bloom in James Joyce's Ulysses. My choice of villain is the weak, wishy-washy unnamed narrator of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, a woman so spineless and lifeless she did not deserve to survive.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born and raised in Dalkey, County Dublin, in a big shabby happy house with very loving parents who sadly died young.
What is your philosophy of life?
This life is it. There are no second chances, so anything good we have to do must be done now.
Did you enjoy school? What is your most vivid memory of your school years?
Yes, I was very happy at the Convent of the Holy Child in Killiney, County Dublin, just a five-minute train ride away from home. My most vivid memory is the unlikely one of the sports field. I was captain of the netball team because I was so tall I could almost reach into the net with the ball.
Have any of your books been televised or made into films?
Two of my books - Echoes and The Lilac Bus - were televised. Another one, Circle of Friends, has been made into a movie starring Minnie Driver and Chris O'Donnell, and Tara Road was made into a movie starring Andie McDowell and Olivia Williams.
What is a typical writing day?
I sort of retired in 2000 when I was 60, but only from doing book promotions, because my health hasn't been great. I still write, however. I don't consider that tiring at all. A typical writing day means coming upstairs with my husband Gordon Snell, who is also a writer at 8.30am and we sit at our laptops and work until 1 o'clock, answering mail, talking to overseas publishers, writing short stories, doing book reviews. Then at lunchtime we go to the pub next door and have lunch, and maybe a game of chess.
What do you do when you are not writing? How do you relax? What are your hobbies?
As relaxation, we play very bad chess together and, with friends, very bad over-talkative bridge. We go to the theatre and to people's houses for meals and cook meals for people and watch a huge amount of television.
What single thing might people be surprised to learn about you?
People might be surprised to know that even though I am big and lame and aged 70 and have breathing problems, I don't feel remotely like that. I feel about 22 and optimistic and full of adventure all the time.
Have you been lucky in life?
I have been luckier than anyone I know or even heard of. I had a very happy childhood, a good education, I enjoyed working as a teacher, journalist and author. I have loved a wonderful man for over 33 years and I believe he loves me too. I have great family and good friends, the stories I told became popular and people all over the world bought them. If anyone heard me complaining I should be taken out and shot!
