I grew up sort of middle class, safe and suburban.

I write about what I know; and I write about things that are new to me, and that I didn't know before.

A book is completed only when it is finished by a reader.

It struck me that distant cities are designed precisely so you can know where you came from.

I think a good novel can be a doorstop to despair. I also think the real bravery comes with those who prepared to go through that door and look at the world in all its grime and torment, and still find something of value, no matter how small.

I write articles, and I do profiles of members of organizations and associations.

I am of the opinion, and even more so the older I get, that it is more difficult to have hope than it is to despair. And I mean this in the sense that in order to have hope you must acknowledge the despair and then you have to get beyond it. Taken from a radio interview given on BBC Radio 4's Open Book