As the only girl growing up among three brothers I was always afraid of being excluded. If there was a game to be played a sport to be learned a competition to join I was on my feet and ready. I didn't spend much time alone for fear that I'd miss out.

All my fans tell me what a glamorous life I have but I tell them how hard I work and how many nights I spend alone with my dogs eating chicken pot pie in my bedroom.

The foundations of a strong economy don't rest alone on the decisions of Chancellors or the spending programmes of government.

I just broke up with my boyfriend and I've been spending more time alone than I'd like.

Men don't even ask me out. I can't remember the last time I was asked out on a date and I'm talking years here. I spend my life more and more alone.

I love my friends and family but I also love it when they can't find me and I can spend all day reading or walking all alone in silence eight thousand miles away from everyone. All alone and unreachable in a foreign country is one my most favorite possible things to be.

And I find - I'm 63 and my capacity to be by myself and just spend time by myself hasn't diminished any. That's the necessary part of being a writer you better like being alone.

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

We all get stuck. We all lose ourselves a little bit in a fantasy or in our jobs and forget how we feel about other things. It's really important to check yourself to spend some time alone.

What troubles me is the Internet and the electronic technology revolution. Shyness is fueled in part by so many people spending huge amounts of time alone isolated on e-mail in chat rooms which reduces their face-to-face contact with other people.