A lot of people don't know what they want, you know, or they're just kind of vague about it.

There is still the outside world to contend with. A world of backfiring cars, and their human equivalents.

There is a reason there is no such thing as a folk writer. But to be a writer you have learn what it takes to captivate a reader in order to make them turn the page. And in order to learn that, you have to read.

Write relentlessly, until you find your voice. Then, use it.

Scream at the mangled leather carcass lying at the foot of the stairs, and my parents would roar with laughter. "That's what you get for leaving your wallet on the kitchen table.

Because I've always been a fairly nervous person.

Their house had real hardcover books in it, and you often saw them lying open on the sofa, the words still warm from being read.