Daughters could survive a powerful mother, but boys found it almost impossible. Such boys were often severely damaged and spent the rest of their lives running away from their mothers, or from anybody who remotely reminded them of their mothers; either that, or they became their mothers, in a desperate, misguided act of psychological self defence.

Oh I love gadgets and I pride myself on keeping at the cutting edge of technology.

Simple questions--and simple answers--were what we needed in life. That was what Mma Ramotswe believed. Yes.

Most people want nothing to happen. That is the problem with governments these days. They want to do things all the time; they are always very busy thinking of what things they can do next. That is not what people want. People want to be left alone to look after their cattle.

Do not take on a traditionally built person unless you are prepared for a heavyweight bout.

I am often thanked by people for inventing the term traditionally built. The people who give me thanks for this are often traditionally built themselves.

I just focus on getting the first scene right, with a few lines about the overall plot, and then the book grows organically.