As a genre, the best horror poses central human questions - Who can you trust? What is the cost of our secrets? What is our relationship to history? What are we blind to? What evils are lurking under the smooth surface of the self? - through radical dislocations.

On my first trip to Havana, I was stopped by a woman who turned out to be a Canadian tour guide and who had mistaken me for a woman who had been part of one of her tour groups.

As for me, I was a lonely kid, with few close friends until I was an adult - even when I might have been perceived as being on the inside, I felt like I was on the outside, kind of like viewing the world through a sheet of glass.

Anxiety and doubt are among my biggest struggles as a writer.

I think we're often guilty of gravitating towards the familiar. Even if we recognize that certain patterns are unsatisfying and destructive, there can still be a comfort in the familiar recognition of a cycle repeating itself.

If you're working on a novel, whatever you do, don't say, 'I am almost finished with my novel.' It's worse than chanting Bloody Mary three times in front of a mirror.

To a certain degree, I think both self-narrativizing and selective memory are essential survival skills.

Culturally, there is often the expectation that women should be repelled by anything too ugly, too violent.

If I leave the fictional world for too long, it's a bit like stepping through a portal, entering another reality, and then not knowing how to get back to where you were before.

Ever since I started writing in college, I have, save for a few short breaks here and there, been working away on something. I love it, I need it, and so it never occurred to me to put writing on the back burner.

A sense of play is important when I'm writing, and so messing around with, say, a magic routine can feel like play, at least initially.

Youth is such a fascinating and volatile concoction of vulnerability, dependence, restlessness, relentlessness. You're still learning the terms of the world and of the self, in a very immediate way.

Early influences included Lorrie Moore, Amy Hempel, Charles Baxter, Richard Ford, Alice Munro, Denis Johnson - writers who are important to me still and who I discovered through my teachers.

We're all trying to figure out on a daily basis what kind of person to be, aren't we? I am, at least.

I have always loved dancing. I am always that crazy girl on the dance floor, dancing by herself.

Baking is my favourite.

I've always known I bruise like a peach.

I love candles and creating a homely space.

It's really nice to see something come full circle.

When my feet look and feel great, I feel great.

I realised years ago that no one really knows what they're doing and you kind of just learn by observing.

I think if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will.

I don't think being healthy has to be complicated.

If people stay in their own little bubbles, none of us will reach our full potential.

When it comes to having children or not having children, I don't think we realise how many women have to deal with things quietly.

Everyone struggles with ups and downs and there is great therapy in knowing we all go through it.

It took me a year to talk about my miscarriage.

I love my home comforts and I need to nest to feel grounded.

I played hockey, as most girls who go to convent schools in Ireland do, as well as table tennis and badminton - all the rock 'n' roll sports.

Anyone who has ever compared one woman against another on Twitter, knocked someone because of their appearance, invaded someone else's privacy, who have made mean, unnecessary comments on an online forum - they need to look at themselves.

The 'Love Island' villa smells. That's the one thing the audience at home never see.

I always thought I wasn't cool enough in school, I was in the 'nerd' crew. I actually enjoyed studying.

As a TV presenter I've found it's important to always have great looking feet.

My job in MTV was my first real presenting job and I had no real idea what I was doing, but you kind of learn just by doing.

I could be 7ft tall and I'd still love longer legs.

I started listening to 'Serial' but remember being home alone and the electricity went - I don't think I've ever been more scared!

To avoid dry skin on my feet, I exfoliate them at least once a week with Scholl Dry Skin Exfoliator which has been created to care for the unique characteristics of the skin on the foot.

I downloaded a Kylie Minogue album and it had all the classics like 'I Should Be So Lucky' and 'Locomotion.' I'm not even ashamed to say I love it, I'm proud.

I moisturise my feet every day with Scholl Dry Skin Instant Recovery Cream, a non-greasy cream which leaves my feet feeling soft and supple instantly.

When I hit the dance floor, I hit the dance floor pretty hard!

I remember after a year in London, I was at an MTV party and a friend saying to me that it was such a brave thing to do to come over to London by myself. I never thought it was a big deal. It was my dream. I am so independent. It is just ridiculous. I am too independent for my own good.

I'm not confident at all. You just pretend you are.

I love Halloween.

My mum and dad are great mates.

I love doing live TV.

I don't like my bum, as it's too big. Or my nose because it's too small. It's like a child's nose.

I have no time for fad diets.

No one escapes the teenage years without a lot of challenges. I had many. I was awkward. Petrified of boys.

What Irish person doesn't love the Eurovision?

My top tip for looking your best is to dress for yourself, not for anyone else. Even working with a stylist, I wouldn't wear anything she told me to wear unless I was comfortable with it myself. That said, it's good to push yourself out of your style comfort zone every so often to make sure you try new things.