Out of respect to writers, you have to read the book in the way in which the author visualised it going out into the world..

I'm no lyrical stylist, you wouldn't pick me for a perfect sentence, and I certainly wouldn't describe my novels as intellectual..

I am often criticised for being rather accessible..

You can't help parts of yourself leaking into other characters..

My view of an excellent novel was probably set in the golden age of fiction in the 19th century: narrative, character and voice are of equal importan….

I've experienced huge kindness here, a great welcome and some very generous reviews without the snide social edge I often suffer from at home. I'm no….

I always love writing about children..

Oddly my name has been no professional help at all! It seems to have made no difference. I admire him hugely, both for his benevolence and his enormo….

My advice would be not to write until after 35. You need some experience, and for life to knock you about a bit. Growing up is so hard you probably w….

The world's tragedy is that men love women, women love children, and children love hamsters..

I am not a fan of the cupcake image. This idea that you can distract a girl with something frivolous like a cake or shoes or handbags, and she won't ….

You can't love a library of e-books. You can't furnish a room with e-books..

I'm actually rather orderly, although the way that I write is not..

You can change yourself and you can change the situation but you absolutely cannot change other people. Only they can do that..