It is always sad when someone leaves home, unless they are simply going around the corner and will return in a few minutes with ice-cream sandwiches.

It is much, much worse to receive bad news through the written word than by somebody simply telling you, and I’m sure you understand why. When somebody simply tells you bad news, you hear it once, and that’s the end of it. But when bad news is written down, whether in a letter or a newspaper or on your arm in felt tip pen, each time you read it, you feel as if you are receiving the bad news again and again.

For every teenager I know, having a phone is a mixed blessing, because your parents can press a button and figure out where you are.

When do you learn that the world, like any diner worth its salt, is open twenty-four hours a day?

I was never a fan of anything, and yet some people are fans of my books. That's a bit odd. But I like meeting them.

Assumptions are dangerous things to make, and like all dangerous things to make - bombs, for instance, or strawberry shortcake - if you make even the tiniest mistake you can find yourself in terrible trouble.

You meet people who are in pain in life and love and you forgive them for behaving the way they do.