My theory is that I decided to be a writer when I was about seven, but of course it is not as simple as that. Like most writers, I had to work at oth….

It changes you for ever, but you are changing for ever anyway..

Every writer has to find their own way into writing..

You can't say you want things to be simple and then in the next breath ask me to be honest..

Reading is very creative - it's not just a passive thing. I write a story; it goes out into the world; somebody reads it and, by reading it, complete….

Anyone interested in the world generally can't help being interested in young adult culture - in the music, the bands, the books, the fashions, and t….

People can say what they like about the eternal verities, love and truth and so on, but nothing's as eternal as the dishes..

Try not to become disappointed if someone doesn't like a story you've written. Stick up for your ideas, but listen to what other people say, too. The….

If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing twice..

Family!... You might just as well celebrate battle, murder and sudden death..

Being a librarian certainly helped me with my writing because it made me even more of a reader, and I was always an enthusiastic reader. Writing and ….

It is a good idea to know which publishers publish which stories. For example, there is no sense in sending a picture book text to a publisher who do….

When you are writing, of course, you have to do all that writing and correcting for yourself. When I was a librarian it was expected that I would kno….

There are certainly times when my own everyday life seems to retreat so the life of the story can take me over. That is why a writer often needs spac….

For in some ways the world was like a shopping centre, and he himself was a doubtful customer, often ineffectual, being talked into buying things he ….

I've never actually been a fighter myself - fighting tires me out and I'm not an efficient fighter anyway - but I have certainly seen other people ha….

Will you still love me when I'm a monster?.

Writing for young children I find I often use particular jokes with words and exaggerated, funny events, but some of these haunt the more complex sto….

It can certainly happen that characters in more sophisticated stories can "take over" as they develop and change the author's original ideas. Well, i….

I don't think I prefer writing for one age group above another. I am just as pleased with a story which I feel works well for very small children as ….

I, personally, have found reading a continual support to writing..